Confcderfite Bclioes 

By A. T. GOODLOB 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 




KKV. AND MRS. A. T. GOODI.OE. 

Married November 29. 185.5. Photo taken May H. \'M\. 



CONFEDEMTE ECHOES: 



A VOICE FROM THE SOUTH IJS^ 
THE DAYS OF SECESSION 
AIN^D OF THE S0UTHER:N' 
CONFEDERACY. . 



BY 

REV. ALBERT THEODORE GOODLOE, M.D. 

FIRST LIEUTENANT COMPANY D, THIRTY-FIFTH REGIMENT ALABAMA 
VOLUNTEER INFANTRY, C. S. A. ' 

Member of John L. McEwen Bivouac No. 4, Association of Confederate Soldiers, 
and of Gen. J. W. Starnes Camp iVo. 234, Vnittd, Confederate Veterans. 



Printed for the Author. 

Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South. 

Smith «fe Lamar, Nashville, f enn. 

1907. 






LIBRARY of CONGHESS, 
Two Copies KeceivM 

NOV 22 1907 

Copvrigf" tntry 

GLASS 4 )Uc. Nu, 

COPY B-. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1907, 

By Albert Theodore Goodloe, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 




PROF. GKAXVILLE GOODLOE, M.A. 
Taken February 11, 1907. 



DEDICATION. 

To Prof. Oranville Ooodloe, M.A., the firstborn of the 
twelve children of my wife and me, who was born January 
23, 1857, this book is affectionately dedicated, as an expres- 
sion of our appreciation of the loving obedience and respect 
he has always shotvn his parents, both in childhood and in 
manhood; the financial help he has afforded them from 
time to time as they had need, especially in the education 
of their eight children born since the War, as he followed 
his life ivork of teaching in training schools and colleges; 
the definite purpose he has ever had, and carried otit, of 
giving the students under him a clear understanding of the 
significance and conduct of the war waged by Abraham Lin- 
coln against our Southland; and his intense and unabated 
devotion to our Southern Confederacy and its defenders. 

A. T. GOODLOE. 

Mount Repose, R. F. D. No. 6, Nashville, Tenn. 

(5) 



CO:N^TEi^TS. 



PA.OE 



Ho, FOR "Dixie Land " 11 

CHAPTER I. 
Explanatory, Etc 21 

CHAPTER n. 

The Rebel — Baxter's Speech — Secession — Lin- 
coln Starts the War 29 

CHAPTER HI. 

Lincoln — His Journey to Washington — His As- 
sassination — As to His Religion 46 

CHAPTER IV. 

Slavery and the War — Abolitionists — The Ne- 
' .lO — Plxpensiveness of Slavery — Over- 
seers 60 

(7) 



8 COISrrEDEKATE ECHOES. 

CHAPTER V. 



PAGE 



My Enlistment — Lagrange, Ala. — Go to Cor- 
inth, Miss.— All Things Fair in War 74 

CHAPTER VI. 
Corinth — Our Generals Estimated, Etc 88 

CHAPTER Vn. 

Army Movements after the Evacuation of Cor- 
inth Briefly Stated — Various Reflections 115 

CHAPTER Vin. 

Gen. Joseph E. Johnston — Hood — Davis — 
"Speeches and Soldiers" — Grierson's Raid, 
Etc 139 

CHAPTER IX. 

Ti'ansporting Troops — Some Phases of Army 
Life— Pies for Sale 160 

CHAPTER X. 

On the March— In Camp— Foraging — Sam and 
the Geese — Prices of Things in General 183 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 9 

CHAPTER XI. 

PAGE 

The Army Ox — The Array Louse 204 

CHAPTER XII. 

Slaughter in War — Yankee Enlistments and 
Ours Compared — Motives of Each — Various 
Other Matters 226 

CHAPTER Xm. 

Vicksburg — Some Big Shooting — In Charge of 
Sick Camp — Baton Rouge Fight — Corinth 
Fight, Etc -f 246 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Baker's Creek Fight, Etc. — Other Movements 
of the Army — Twenty-seventh and Thirty- 
fifth Alabama Regiments Recruit — Off for 
Georgia 273 

CHAPTER XV. 
My First Furlough 294 

CHAPTER XVI. 
My Second Furlough 331 



10 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

PAOB 

Religion and War— Christian Association, Etc. . 370 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Religious Meetings Here and There 390 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Religious Meetings, Etc 

CHAPTER XX. 

Black Mammies— Memoirs— Southern Woman- 
hood 




DA Ml- I. DKlATll! EMMETT, 

Author of ■■ Dixie Land.' Photo taken in 1903 



no, FOR -DIXIE LAND." 



LET THE BAND PLAY DIXIE. 



Dixie's Land. 

I wish I was in de land ob cotton, 
Cimmon seed and sandy bottom, 

Look away, look way away, Dixie Land. 
In Dixie Land whar I was born in. 
Early on one frosty mornin', 

Look away, look way away, Dixie Land. 
Din I wish I Avas in Dixie, Hooray ! Hooray I 
In Dixie's Land we'll take our stand, 
To lib and die for Dixie. 
Away, away, away down South in Dixie; 
Away, away, away down South in Dixie. 

Old Missus marry Will de Weaber, 
William was a gay deceaber; 
When he put his arm around 'er, 
He look as fierce as a forty-pounder. 

His face was sharp like a butcher's cleaber, 
But dat did not seem to greab 'er. 
Will run away, Missus took a decline, O, 
Her face was de color ob bacon rhine, O. 

(11) 



12 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

"While Missus libbed, she libbed in clober; 
When she died, she died all ober. 
How could she act such a foolish part, O, 
An' many a man to break her heart, O ? 

Buckwheat cakes an' stony batter 
Makes you fat, or a little fatter. 
Here's a health to de next old Missus, 
An' all de gals dat wants to kiss us. 

Now if you want to drive 'way sorrow, 
Come an' hear dis song to-morrow. 
Den hoe it down an' scratch yer grabble, 
To Dixie's Land I'm bound to trabble. 

These are the exact words of " Dixie's 
Land," as composed and written, together 
with the music, by Dan Emmett in ^N'ew 
York, in 1859, to meet an exigency in the 
performance of the negro minstrelsy to 
which he then belonged. Such perform- 
ances were exceedingly popular in those 
days throughout the country, because of 
their intense fun-making after the style of 
Southern negroes, the j oiliest people in the 
world before they were emancipated. Some 
of our people would prefer the tune of Dix- 



HO, roil "dixie lao^d!" 13 

ie sung to some more stately words, such as 
the following, by Gen. Pike, but Emmett's 
words will abide: 

Other Words for Dixie. 

BY GEN. ALBERT PIKE. 

Southrons, hear your country call you; 
Up! lest worse than death befall you; 
To arms! to arms! to arms in Dixie. 
Lo, all the beacon fires are lighted; 
Let all your hearts be now united; 
To arms! to arms! to arms in Dixie. 
Advance the flag of Dixie; 
Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 

Chorus. -» 

For Dixie's Land I'll take my stand, 
To live and die for Dixie, 
To arms! to arms! 
And conquer peace for Dixie! 

To arms! to arms! 
And conquer peace for Dixie! 

Hear the Northern thunder mutter; 
Northern flags in South winds flutter. 
Send them back your fierce defiance; 
Stamp upon the accursed alliance. 

Fear not danger; shun no labor; 
Lift your rifle, pike, and saber; 



14 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

Shoalder pressing close to shoulder, 
Let the odds make each heart bolder! 

How the South's great heart rejoices 
At your cannon's ringing voices 
For faith betrayed and pledges broken, 
Wrongs inflicted, insults spoken. 

Strong as lions, swift as eagles, 
Back to their kennels hunt these beagles; 
Break the unequal bonds asunder; 
Let them hence each other plunder. 

Swear upon your country's altar 
Never to submit or falter 
Till the spoilers are defeated, 
Till the Lord's work is completed. 

Halt not till our federation 
Secures among earth's powers its station. 
Now, at peace and crowned with glory, 
Hear your children tell the story. 

If the loved ones weep in sadness, 
Victory shall bring them gladness; 
Exultant pride now banish sorrow, 
Smiles chase tears away to-morrow. 

The tune of '' Dixie Land " was instantly 
caught up in every direction, and became 



HO, FOR "dixie land!" 15 



exceedingly popular wherever it went, much 
to the surprise of the author, who only in- 
tended it for the Bryant Minstrels to meet a 
pressing necessity, so to speak. It is not 
surprising, in the very nature of things, that 
the South laid special claim to it, as such 
minstrelsy had reference to the South alto- 
gether, and held on to it when the war 
broke out as the national air of the South- 
ern Confederacy. This outcome of " Dixie 
Land " always pleased Emmett, who, though 
a IS^orthern man, was Southern in sentiment. 
His parents were natives of the South, and 
moved to Mt. Yernon, Knox County, Ohio, 
where he was born October 29, 1815. He 
left his home, with the consent of his parents, 
when eighteen years of age, with Sam Stick- 
ney's circus, and afterwards " organized the 
first band of Ethiopian minstrels that the 
world ever knew." His performances were 
not confined to this country, but he toured 
successfully England, Ireland, and Scotland. 
He retired practically from the stage in 
1888, finally dying in Mt. Yernon, Ohio, 
June 30, 1901. 



16 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

It is worth while to hear him tell just how 
'' Dixie Land," words and music, came to be 
produced. This he does in an interview 
with Comrade S. A. Cunningham, the gifted 
editor of the Confederate Veteran^ in the 
following words: "In the spring of 1859 I 
found myself in N^ew York City, engaged 
with the Bryant Minstrels, ]^o. 472 Broad- 
way. My particular engagement was to 
make them new songs for the end men — 
plantation songs, negro songs, or ' walk- 
rounds/ as we called them. One Saturday 
night after the performance Jerry Bryant 
overtook me on my way home and asked me 
to make him a new ^ walk-round ' and bring 
it to rehearsal Monday morning. 'Make 
one,' said he, * that the boys can whoop and 
holler. Make it a regular negro " walk- 
round." ' 

'' The next day being Sunday — and it 
rained as if heaven and earth would come 
together — I sat down with my violin and 
composed 'Dixie Land.' I took it to re- 
hearsal Monday morning, and they were so 
pleased with it that they had the second re- 



HO, FOR "dixie land!" 17 



hearsal after dinnerj so we could get it just 
right for the night performance. It was 
popular from the start." 

Many thanks, I now say, to Comrade Cun- 
ningham, through his superb Confederate 
Veteran, for facilities afforded me in writing 
about the author of our '' Dixie Land." 

"At the funeral of Emmett," says the 
Confederate Veteran, " in which Kev. W. E. 
Hull officiated, the songs were: ' Lead, Kind- 
ly Light,' 'Jesus, Lover of My Soul,' ' JNTear- 
er. My God, to Thee,' and as the casket was 
being lowered into the grave the Mt. Ver- 
non Band played ' Dixie.' " 

The Soldier's Wife. 
"Heroic males the coimtry bears; 
But daughters give up moi'e than sons." 

— Mrs. BrowniiKj. 
How wearily the days go by, 

How silence sits a guest at home! 
While she, with listless step and eye, 
Still waits for one who does not come. 

The sunshine streams across the floor, 

A golden solitary track; 
The flies hum in and out the door ; 

The olden clock ffoes click-a-clack! 



18 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

And baby, sitting wonder-eyed, 
Watches the kitten's noiseless play, 

Till sleep comes gently, and he lies 
At rest through half the summer day. 

In twilight brooding dim and gray. 

She sits beside the open door; 
Before her lies the graveled way, 

O'erhung by ancient sycamore; 
And through the eve she hears the cry 

Of whip-poor-wills that shun the light; 
She sees the stars of evening die, 

And all around her reigns the night; 
Then "By-lo-baby, baby-by!" 

She sings her little babe to rest, 
And muses with its rosy face 

Held warm and close against her breast. 

Beside her couch she weary kneels. 

And clasps her hands before her face; 
Ah! only Christ knows what she feels, 

A lonely supplicant for grace. 
She prays for one who does not come, 

And draws an answer from her hopes; 
And then within her silent home. 

While stars slide down night's silvery slopes, 
She nestles close beside her babe. 

And one arm o'er it shielding throws, 
And dreams of joys that day denies, 

Until the rose of morning blows. 



HO, FOR ''dixie land!" 19 

The above production was clipped by my 
wife from a Southern paper which came to 
her during the war, and at a time when no 
letters from me to her — though I had written 
and started many — had reached her for some- 
thing more than a year. She inclosed it to 
me in her letter to me from home of N^ovem- 
bcr 5, 1863. Heavy-hearted in the extreme, 
she says in that letter, referring to how long- 
it had been since she heard from me: " You 
know well, my dear husband, how I feel. 
.Vt times I can scarce sustain the frame 
which bears such an aching, sorrowful 
heart." 




ALDERT TIIKODOKK (lOODLOE. 

First Lieutenant Company D. Thirty-Fifth Alabama Vohmteers, C. S. A.. IStiJ, 





MRS. A. T. GOODLOE. 
Taken the su aimer of 1864. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 



CHAPTER I. 

Explanatory, Etc. 

THESE Confederate Echoes are written 
from the standpoint of a Confederate 
patriot in the "early sixties" (from the elec- 
tion of Abraliam Lincoln as President of the 
United States, in 1860, to the downfall of onr 
Southern Confederacy, in 1865), and they are 
expressed in terms then employed throughout 
the South by citizens and soldiers in regard to 
governmental, military, and other affairs with 
which we had to do in those stirring, epoch- 
making days. How else could the genuine 
Southerner of that eventful period be known 
to others than by allowing him an audience 
with them in his own form of speech, as he 
gives utterance to his views of men and 
things, his convictions, etc.? In a straight- 
forward, unrestrained way he did not hesi- 

(21) 



22 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

tate to give his estimate, especially, of men 
in authority on both sides of the Ohio Riv- 
er, and comment at will on the management 
of affairs by them, as he took in the situa- 
tion. He was a veritable son of Liberty, who 
claimed and exercised his sovereio-n rig-ht to 
do his own thinking and talking and acting 
without reference to the opinion of others, 
whatever might be their standing, or the con- 
sequences that might follow, of hurt or oth- 
erwise. There was a bold manliness in tliis 
Southern Confederate everywhere that dread- 
ed not to assert itself in any presence or un- 
der any circumstances, and there was no mis- 
taking the meaning of his utterances or ac- 
tions. His majesty of character entitles him 
to live on through the ages following, not sim- 
ply as a record in the cold annals of history, 
but as his real self perpetuated. To meet the 
demand, a photograph, true to life, must be 
taken and transmitted to posterity. This book 
is this photograph, so far as the author could 
accomplish the desired end. That is to say, 
the language and tone of it are intended to 
be the echoes of the old Southrons as they 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 23 

met the issues that were thrust upon them 
by Linculn and his supporters. Tliey shall 
never die while I can keep them alive, and 
their Confederacy shall never perish from 
the earth while I can prevent it. 

As to the propriety of publishing a book 
of this kind at this remote period from the 
overthrow of the Confederate States of Amer- 
ica by Lincoln's soldiers of " every tribe and 
nation," some persons will consider that it is 
a mistake, inasmuch as it is calculated to 
arouse afresh the animosities of the former 
days of wrath and blood in this country. 
This need not be the effect of it, and is not 
likely to be among fair-minded and intelli- 
gent people anywhere, in the N^orth or in the 
South. But be that as it may, must we fail 
on any account to show to our offspring and 
to the world at large what we w^ere, what 
Ave undertook, and what the significance of 
our undertaking was in all its bearings; and 
thus allow all who may so desire to see 
with our eyes, as it were, what we beheld 
while struggling to be disengaged from our 
despotic pursuers, and to establish an inde- 



24 OOXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

pendent nationality of our own apart from 
them ? 

There are those sometimes, even in our 
own midst, who insist that we are "fostering 
strife " between the l!^ortli and the South by 
talking and writing about the war times in 
this country from a Southern standpoint, un- 
less we do so in a kind of apologetic or hu- 
morous way, as though we are sorry that 
we fought the Yankees, or that we were only 
"funning" when we did so. They are much 
given to saying — those who are free-spoken 
on the subject: "I thought the war was 
over. Let the dead past bury its dead." 

Most of such nonsensical talk comes from 
a certain class of self-constituted and self- 
announced " reformers " of the woman-suf- 
frage, politico-ecclesiastical type found here 
and there, who, in order to succeed in their 
wild projects, are joining forces with the 
Plymouth JRock fanatics for the purpose of 
consigning to oblivion the blessed Old South 
and its orthodox supporters. Much of this 
talk also is the grating and hypocritical 
whine of the post-bellum renegade from our 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 25 

ranks who, having abandoned us in our ef- 
forts to prevent negro supremacy in the South 
during the reconstruction period and main- 
tain our rights in the government as white 
citizens, has gone into the camp of our nev- 
er-wearying maligners and persecutors, and 
is now trying to " break the Solid South " 
for his own exaltation among our unnatural 
and bitter adversaries. A few good-meaning 
l)eople talk thus, wiio have but little strength 
of conviction, and are not particular which 
side they are on, if only they may be exempt 
from antagonism or contradiction in the 
smallest degree. Absolute quietude is what 
they want, regardless of who was right or 
who was wrong on war issues; and indiffer- 
ent, indeed, as to whether the JS^orth or the 
South was responsible for the war. 

Actually, on one occasion, while we of the 
John L. McEwen Bivouac, of Franklin, Ten- 
nessee, were arranging to bury one of our 
comrades who had just died, a prominent 
merchant of that town, of the modern reform- 
atory persuasion, took offense at our meeting 
for that purpose and said to me in an impa- 



26 CONPEDEEATE ECHOES. 

tient tone : " I see no good to come of such as 
this. I thought the war was over." My reply 
was : '' Yes, the war is over, but we still bury 
our dead comrades when requested to do so." 
His only answer to this was a fretful repeti- 
tion of what he had already said. This man 
liad never fought any Yankees. I could not 
but announce to the great assemblage at the 
burial service, conducted by me as Chaplain, 
in connection with some needful explanatory 
remarks about our organization, what had oc- 
curred in the conversation with this gentle- 
man, that those knew best that the war was 
over who helped as true patriots to fight the 
battles of the South. 

That there should be a disposition on the 
part of Southern people to fraternize in a 
Christian and manly way with those of the 
^orth, it is well here to say; and so far as 
mere animosities of a j)ersonal nature are 
concerned, the dead past should bury its 
dead. But principles such as we fought for 
must not be buried; nor must there, for any 
consideration, be any blank or compromising 
pages in the history of the war with Lincoln 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 27 

from a Southern point of view, ^o one has 
any stronger desire for genuine fraternity 
with the North than the one who writes these 
lines; but, for one, I cannot afford to '* foster" 
it by evading vital issues and ignoring fun- 
damental facts; much less can I do so by 
banishing from my mind the fond recollec- 
tion of the illustrious supporters and defend- 
ers of the dear Old South, more precious to 
me than all other peoples and lands. 

" Land of the South! — Imperial Land! 
Then here's a health to thee! 
Long as thy mountain barriers stand, 
May 'st thou be blest and free I " 

So wrote Meek, of the Old South, before 
Lincoln was even dreamed of as President 
of the United States. 

This book may be regarded as the comple- 
tion of my " Rebel Relics," published in 1893, 
much of which it embodies, and as my final 
contribution in this form to the memory of 
my companions of the Old South and our 
Southern Confederacy. I began to feel soon 
after " Rebel Relics " was published that it 
needed enlargement in certain directions, and 



28 COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

some eliminations, to make it comprehend in 
full what I would have it do, and no more, so 
as to make it of more permanent value per- 
haps than as it was first written, which ex- 
plains in this connection why " Confederate 
Echoes " was thoiiii'ht of and written. 



CHAPTEK IT. 



The Rebel — Baxter's Speech — Secession — Lincoln 
Starts the War. 

ACCOEDI]^G to the denunciatory epi- 
thets hurled at the Southern people by 
the Yankees after the secession movement 
was mooted among us upon the election of 
Lincoln, the South was a veritable hotbed of 
traitors and rebels, as they defined those 
terms, and they manifested a disposition to 
shoot to death every secessionist tlsiit could 
be found, "without judge or jury." "Reb- 
els " we were, after their form of speech, as 
most commonly spoken by them — " rebels 
against the best government the world ever 
knew." This was not intended as a compli- 
mentary epithet; but we took kindly to it 
and accepted it as a title of honor, and those 
of us who were in the army were accus- 
tomed to greet the approaching Yankee lines 
and send consternation into them with our 
spontaneous " Rebel Yell," the most up- 

(29) 



30 COKFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

roarious and awe-inspiring battle cry that 
ever gushed from human throats. '' Old 
Keb" is now our title of honor, and most 
highly do we appreciate it. 

In regard to the term "rebel," Capt. Ed. 
Baxter spoke the following, among other 
good things, in his speech at the Franklin 
reunion of Confederate soldiers in the fall 
of 1892: 

"The history of the English people is 
but a history of rebels struggling to main- 
tain their rights and liberties against the 
tyranny and oppression of the governing 
powers. 

" To the American citizen who has care- 
fully read the history of the race from which 
he sjDrang, the term * rebel ' conveys no con- 
ception of dishonor or reproach. It is a 
term which tyrannical governments have at 
all times applied to people who have the 
courage to resist their oppression. 

" But while tyrannical governments may 
intend to use the term ^ rebel ' as one of re- 
proach, every true lover of liberty who 
knows its history must regard it as the title 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 31 

of honor. History proves that it is a title of 
nobility which is older and more honorable 
than the king's j^i'^^'og^tive. It is a title 
which was originally won by the sword. It 
has been maintained by the sword; and 
unless it be defended by the sword, human 
liberty will perish from the face of the earth. 
All the rights, privileges, and immunities 
now enjoyed by the American people were 
acquired for them by rebels. There cannot 
be found to-day, in all this world, a man of 
pure-blooded English descent in whose veins 
does not flow the blood of a rebel. 

"After the American colonies declared 
their independence of the mother country, 
they established a new government for them- 
selves. They determined that they would 
have no king, and that the people themselves 
should be their own sovereigns. It was to 
be a government by the people, of the peo- 
ple, and for the people. Under such a form 
of government it wa^ absolutely necessary 
that the majority should rule. But our an- 
cestors foresaw that in times of great popu- 



32 COK^PEDERATE ECHOES. 

lar excitement majorities might become as 
tyrannical as kings or parliaments. They 
therefore adopted a written constitution, 
the main object of which was to protect the 
minority against the majority. They created 
a Congress to enact laws, they established 
courts to construe the laws, and appointed a 
President to enforce the laws as construed 
by the courts. 

^' But in order to protect the citizen 
against all the departments of government, 
the Constitution adopted and re-enacted the 
provision of the great charter that no per- 
son should be deprived of life, liberty, or 
iwojperty without due process of law; and it 
also declared that private property shall not 
be taken for public use without just compen- 
sation. 

"The theory upon which the government 
was formed was that if a majority in Con- 
gress should pass an act which deprived a 
citizen of life, liberty, or property without 
due process of law, or which deprived a cit- 
izen of his property without compensation, 
the courts would declare it to be unconstitu- 



COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 33 

tional, and the President would refuse to en- 
force it. 

" The people of the Southern States had 
millions of dollars invested in slaves as prop- 
erty. "Whatever may be thought or said of 
the abstract moral right to property in 
human beings, the fact is beyond question 
that property in slaves existed in the col- 
onies before the Revolution, that it existed 
when the Constitution of the United States 
was formed, that it was repeatedly recog- 
nized as legal by all the departments of the 
government, and that it continued to exist 
until the late Civil AYar. 

^'A political party arose in the United 
States which maintained that slavery was 
wrong and should be abolished. And, 
though the Supreme Court of the United 
States decided in favor of the right of prop- 
erty in slaves, the political party referred to 
boldly proclaimed that it would not abide by 
the decision of the highest court in the 
land; and that, if necessary, the Constitu- 
tion would be amended so as to abolish slav- 
ery under the forms of the law. That party 
3 



34 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

finally became strong enough to elect Mr. 
Lincoln President of the United States, and 
the people of the South feared that in a few 
years the same party would become strong 
enough to change the Constitution so as to 
utterly destroy the right of property in 
slaves. The people of the South believed 
that they would be deprived of their right of 
property without due process of law, and 
without compensation ; and, entertaining that 
belief, there was nothing left for them to do 
but to resort to arms to defend their right of 
property, or to cowardly abandon it without 
a struggle. 

''What would the English-speaking peo- 
ple of the world have thought of us if the 
Southern people had tamely surrendered 
without making an armed resistance? What 
would the people of the ]N^orth have thought 
of us if we of the South had refused to fight 
for our constitutional rights? 

"When the American colonies rebelled 
against taxation without representation, Wil- 
liam Pitt, the ' Great Commoner' of England, 
though he remained loyal to King George 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 35 

the Third, said, in speaking of the Ameri- 
can colonists, that 'three millions of people 
so dead to all the feelings of liberty as vol- 
nntarilj to submit to be slaves would have 
been fit instruments to make slaves of the 
rest.' And there is not a Northern man to- 
day whose opinion is worthy of respect 
who will not say that if the Southern people 
had surrendered their constitutional rights 
without a struggle they would have been a 
disgrace to the American Union. 

"//i a republican form of government^ 
where the majority rules, the majority takes 
the place which the Tcing occupies in a mo- 
7iarchical farm of government ; and whenever 
the inajority atteinpts to deprive the minority 
of great constitutional rights, the minority 
must defend its rights with ar7ns, if necessa- 
ry, or they will cease to have any rights 
at all. 

" The Constitution cannot protect itself. 
It has no army or navy of its own. The 
army and navy of the United States are nec- 
essarily controlled by the political party 
which happens at the time to have the ma- 



36 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

jority. The President is Commander in 
Chief of the army and navy of the United 
States, and Congress is authorized to pro- 
vide means for their support. It follows 
that whenever the majority is strong enough 
to elect the President and control both 
Houses of Congress it secures the control of 
the army and navy and can use them to de- 
stroy the constitutional rights of the mi- 
nority. 

'^In such a case the courts can furnish no 
protection; for though they may decide 
against the majorit}^, they cannot enforce 
their decisions if the army and navy be con- 
trolled by the majority. The minority, 
therefore, is forced to resort to arms to pro- 
tect its rights, or those rights must be 
abandoned and cease to be any longer a 
part of the Constitution. 

"If minorities, from time to time, surren- 
der one right after another, the Constitution 
will fall to pieces and the government will 
become a mere mobocracy. 

" The framers of the Constitution foresaw 
that the perpetuity of the Union depended 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 37 

upon the right of the minority to protect it- 
self by arming against the majority, and, 
therefore, it was provided that the right of 
the people to keep and bear arms shoukl 
not be infringed. 

" It has been said of the Russian govern- 
ment that it is an absolute despotism, limited 
by assassination. It is said that the present 
Czar has such a dread of the assassin that he 
does not show himself in public, even in his 
own capital. It is sad to know that the peo- 
ple of Russia are forced to assume the cloak 
of the assassin in order to protect their 
rights to life, liberty, and property. But in 
the United States our people have been 
saved from the degradation of assassination. 
Our Constitution guarantees to them the 
right not only to keep arms, but to bear 
them openly and to use them in defense of 
our liberties. 

" We have descended from the ' free- 
necked' man of England, whose neck has 
never bent to a master. Our pedigree goes 
back to the ' weaponed man ' of Britain, 
who has always claimed and exercised the 



38 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

right to defend himself against every kind 
of oppression, whether it came from the tyr- 
anny of a king or from the tyranny of a pop- 
ulous majority. 

" In the Civil War the Southern people 
simply asserted the right of the minority to 
resist, with arms, the tyrannical oppression 
of the majority, the Southern people on that 
occasion being in the minority; but in the 
years to come it may happen that the peo- 
ple of other sections of the Union will find 
themselves in the minority. The people of 
the 'New England States or the people of 
the Pacific Coast or the people of the N^orth- 
western States may hereafter find themselves 
in the minority upon some great question in 
which their rights may be involved; and 
should such a time ever come to any of 
them, I know that they will have the courage 
to resort to arms, if necessary, to protect 
their rights against the tyranny and oppres- 
sion of the majority. They may be over- 
powered by the mere force of vastly supe- 
rior numbers, but that is not so very mate- 
rial. The matter of greatest consequence is 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 39 

that thev shall make the best fio-lit for their 
rights that is possible under the circum- 
stances, let the result be what it may. 

"The important thing to accomplish by 
such wars is to cause it to be thoroughly un- 
derstood that, at all times and under all cir- 
cumstances, the minority avUI, if necessary, 
fight for its rights, whenever they may be 
assailed, without the slightest regard as to 
whether the issue of battle may be decided 
the one way or the other. 

"The fact that slavery was abolished as 
one of the results of the Civil War, while it 
inflicted a temporary loss on the people of 
the South, will eventually prove a blessing 
of inestimable value to them. The fact that 
the doctrine of secession failed to succeed 
was the loss of a mere abstraction which, if 
it ever had any practical value at all, was of 
as much value to the ]!^orthern States as it 
was to the States of the South; and, therefore, 
the failure of that doctrine was as much of a 
loss to the ^orth as it was to the South. 



40 COI^^PEDERATE ECHOES. 

"Whatever else may have been lost, the 
South triumphantly established the fact that 
the courage of the Anglo-Saxon race still 
abides with the American people, and that 
the minority will resort to arms, whenever 
it may become necessary, to protect their 
rights against the majority. 

" The gallant and glorions fight which the 
South made for the rights of minorities will 
serve as a salutary warning to tyrannical 
majorities for centuries to come. Majorities 
have been taught by the South that it will 
cost them millions of lives and billions of 
money to deprive minorities of their rights." 

We did not take up arms, as all know, im- 
mediately upon the election of Lincoln, but 
that event was really the genesis of the war 
between the States. It was the full expres- 
sion of the implacable hate of his electors for 
the Southern people, and the announcement, 
more than ever before, of their purpose to 
wage a determined and vigorous warfare 
against our constitutional rights of property, 
defying us at the same time to withstand 
their aggressions upon us. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 41 

Seeing what was in store for us with the 
Lincoln party in power, the secession move- 
ment began in the South, fully justified by the 
relations then existing between the dominant 
party and the Southern people. But seces- 
sion was not a war measure — it was a peace 
measure. It was an effort on the part of the 
seceding States to prevent further trouble 
with the abolition States and people. *' The 
Southern people," says Prof. Derry, "could 
never have been induced to go into seces- 
sion had they not believed that there was 
neither safety nor peace for the South in the 
Union. The majority of them had come to 
the conclusion that peace with two govern- 
ments was better than a union of discordant 
States." 

Lincoln was inaugurated on March 4, 1861, 
and immediately upon his ascension to his 
throne of power, with the army and navy of 
the United States subject to his orders, he 
instituted war measures of coercion to drive 
back the sovereign seceded States into the 
Union. True to his instincts as an arch 
trickster, and thirsting for the blood of se- 



4:2 CON^FEDEEATE ECHOES. 

cessionists, he embarked in a military cam- 
paign, in a sly and deceptive way, against 
the South, thus being the prime mover 
in the War between the States. It was in 
the matter of the removal of the Federal 
garrison from Fort Sumter, which was in 
the dominion of South Carolina, a seceded 
State in the Southern Confederacy. 

"For weeks," says Pollard, "the Cabinet 
of Mr. Lincoln had been taxed to devise 
some artifice for the relief of Fort Sumter 
short of military re-enforcements (decided to 
be impracticable), and which would have the 
effect of inaugurating the war by a safe in- 
direction, and under a plausible and con- 
venient pretense. The device was at length 
hit upon. It was accomplished by the most 
flagrant perfidy. Mr. Seward (Secretary of 
State) had already given assurances to the 
Southern (peace) Commissioners, through 
the intermediation of Judge Campbell, that 
the Federal troops would be removed from 
Fort Sumter. Referring to the draft of a 
letter which Judge Campbell had in his 
hand, and proposed to address to President 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 43 

Davis, at Montgomery, he said : * Before that 
letter reaches its destination Fort Sumter 
will have been evacuated.' Some time 
elapsed, and there was reason to distrust the 
promise. Col. Lamon, an agent of the 
Washington government, was sent to Charles- 
ton, and was reported to be authorized to 
make arrangements with Governor Pickens, 
of South Carolina, for the withdrawal of 
the Federal troops from Fort Sumter. He re- 
turned without any accomplishment of his re- 
ported mission. Another confidential agent 
of Mr. Lincoln, a Mr. Fox, was permitted to 
visit Fort Sumter, and v\'a8 discovered to 
have acted the part of the spy in carrying 
concealed dispatches to Major Anderson, in 
charge of the garrison, and collecting infor- 
mation in reference to a plan for the forcible 
re-enforcement of the fort. On April 7, 
18G1, Judge Campbell, uneasy as to the good 
faith of IMr. Seward's promise of the evacua- 
tion of Sumter, addressed him another note 
on the subject. To this the emphatic and 
laconic reply was: ^ Faith as to Sumter 
fully Icejpt — wait and see.'' Six days there- 



44 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

after a hostile fleet (Lincoln's) was mena- 
cing' Charleston. The Lincohi government 
threw down the gauntlet of war, and the bat- 
tle of Sumter was fought, April 12, 1861." 

Thus the war was waged, and April 15, 
three days after the fall of Fort Sumter, 
Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 volunteer 
soldiers to subjugate the seceded States; or, 
in other words, the Southern Confederacy as 
it then was, being constituted of South Car- 
olina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Lou- 
isiana, and Texas. 

The Confederate President met this call of 
Lincoln's by a call for volunteers to repel 
aggressions. As another effect of this first 
subjugating proclamation of Lincoln's, four 
other States seceded from the Union and went 
into the Southern Confederacy — viz., Vir- 
ginia, Arkansas, ISTorth Carolina, and Tennes- 
see. It is thought that Maryland, Missouri, 
and Kentucky would have joined the Con- 
federacy if they had not been "pinned in 
the Union by Federal bayonets." Missouri 
and Kentucky had representatives in the 
Confederate Congress, and furnished, as 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 45 

did Maryland, many brave soldiers to fight 
for Southern independence. 

As the war went on and the contending 
armies were increased, Lincoln put 2,859,132 
soldiers in the field against 600,000 Confed- 
ates. 



CHAPTER III. 



Lincoln — His Journey to Washington — His Assas- 
sination — As to His Religion. 

THE Presidential ticket nominated by 
the Black Republican Convention in 
1860 was Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, for 
President, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, 
for Vice President. Croverned by the nar- 
row considerations of party expediency, the 
Convention had adopted as their candidate 
for President a man of scanty political rec- 
ord — a Western lawyer,with acuteness, slang, 
and a large stock of jokes, and who had pe- 
culiar claims to vulgar and demagogical pop- 
ularity, in the circumstances that he was once 
a captain of volunteers in one of the Indian 
wars, and at some anterior period of his 
life had been employed, as report differ- 
ently said, in splitting rails or in rowing a 
flatboat." 

*'The circumstances attending Lincoln's 
(46) 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 47 

journey to Washington to be inaugurated 
and his advent there were not calculated to 
inspire confidence in his courage or wisdom, 
or in the results of his administration. . . . 
"In the speeches with which he entertained 
the crowds that, at different points of the 
railroad, watched his progress to the capital, 
he amused the whole country, even in the 
midst of great public anxiety, with his igno- 
rance, his vulgarity, his flippant conceit, and 
his Western phraseology. The ^orth dis- 
covered that the new President, instead of 
having nursed a masterly wisdom in the re- 
tirement of his home at Springfield, Illinois, 
and approaching the capital with dignity, 
had nothing better to offer to an amazed coun- 
try than the ignorant conceits of a low 
Western politician and the flimsy jests of a 
harlequin. His railroad speeches were char- 
acterized by a Southern paper as illustrating 
Hhe delightful combination of a Western 
country lawyer with a Yankee barkeeper.' 
In his harangues to the crowds which inter- 
cepted him in his journey, at a time when 
the country was in revolutionary chaos, when 



48 CON^PEDEEATE ECHOES. 

commerce and trade were prostrated, and 
when starving women and idle men were 
among the very audiences that listened to 
him, he declared to them in his peculiar 
phraseology that ' nobody ivas hurt^ that there 
was ' nothing going wrong^ and that '•all 
loould come right. ^ ^oy was the rhetoric of 
the new President his only entertainment of 
the crowds that assembled to honor the prog- 
ress of his journe}^ to Washington. He 
amused them by the spectacle of kissing, on a 
public platform, a lady admirer who had sug- 
gested to him the cultivation of his whiskers ; 
he measured heights with every tall man he 
encountered in one of his public receptions, 
and declared that he was not to be 'over- 
topped;' and he made public exhibitions of his 
wife- — ^ the little woman,' as he called her — 
whose chubby figure, motherly face, and 
fondness for finery and colors attracted much 
attention. 

"These jests and indecencies of the dem- 
agogue who was to take control of what re- 
mained of the government of the United 
States belong to history. Whatever their 



COIfFEDEIlATE ECHOES. 49 

disgrace, it was surpassed, however, by an- 
other display of character on the part of tlie 
coming statesman. While at Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania, and intending to proceed from 
there to Baltimore, Mr. Lincoln was alarmed 
by a report, which was either silly or jocose, 
that a band of assassins were awaiting him 
in the latter city. Frightened beyond all 
considerations of dignity or decency, the new 
President of the United States left Harris- 
burg at night, on a different route than that 
through Baltimore; and in a motley disguise, 
composed of a Scotch cap and military cloak, 
stole to the capital of his government. The 
distinguished fugitive had left his wife and 
family to pursue the route on which it was 
threatened that the cars were to be thrown 
down a precipice by secessionists; or, if that 
expedient failed, the work of assassination 
was to be accomplished in the streets of Bal- 
timore. The city of Washington was taken 
by surprise by the irregular flight of the 
President to its shelter and protection. The 
representatives of his own party there re- 
ceived him with evident signs of disgust at 



50 CO^s^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

the cowardice which had hurried his arrival 
at "Washington." 

This striking portrait of Abraham, of the 
house of Lincoln, is by the skillful hand of 
Mr. E. Pollard, the long-ago editor of the 
Richmond Examiner, and author of the 
"Southern History of the War," published in 
1866. If it should seem rude and cruel to 
any one who reads this, let him bear in mind 
that it is not overdrawn as regards the 
type of character of the atrocious Lincoln, 
as estimated throughout his administration 
by Southern people, and the facts stated are 
true to history. This is " unvarnished truth," 
which needs to be told over and over again 
to our children and children's children, that 
they may know, so far as this record goes, 
the nature of the man who went to Washing- 
ton to be installed as President principally for 
our undoing as a people, as shown by every 
subsequent act of his, until he was murdered 
in Ford's Theater, in Washington, Good Fri- 
day night, April 14, 1865, while seated w^ith 
his family and friends in a box in the thea- 
ter. John Wilkes Booth, the noted theat- 



CONFEDEPtATE ECHOES. 51 

rical actor, much admired by Lincoln, was 
his murderer by shooting a pistol ball into 
his head, having rushed up to him from the 
stage. 

Having completed an administration of 
hate and blood and carnage, he went sudden- 
ly from his theater box of intense worldli- 
ness to the final settlement of bis accounts 
with his God. At his command rivers of 
human blood had been made to flow in this 
country; the industrial, educational, and reli- 
gious institutions of the South had been de- 
molished to the extent of his power to do 
hurt; and suflferings untold and without num- 
ber were visited to a people who had never 
justly provoked his displeasure. 

Concerning the murder of Lincoln, it is 
credibly recorded that it was his treachery 
in regard to the hanging of Captain Beall, 
for whom Booth had interceded with him, 
that provoked it. 

Not a great while siijce the Religious Tel- 
escope, of Dayton, Ohio, contained the fol- 
lowing editorial statement: 

"In this country the assassination of 



52 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

Abraham Lincoln was the result of Ameri- 
can slavery. It \vars slavery's attempt, in its 
death struggle, to deal a stunning blow to 
the head of the nation that was crushing out 
its life — a blow dealt in a desperate revenge 
for its having been compelled to submit to 
the triumph of liberty. It was slavery in its 
dying throes, administering to itself its own 
scorpion sting, thereby rendering its own 
character doubly despicable and its own 
death more certain and everlasting. Hence 
the cause [slavery] of Lincoln's assassination 
being forever annihilated, no such crime can 
again spring from that source." 

Replying to this, the Christian Ohserver, 
of Louisville, Ky., has the following edito- 
rial remarks: 

" Such paragraphs as the above have re- 
peatedly appeared in IN^orthern religious 
papers. They do the Southern people great 
injustice. ISTo citizen of the Southern Con- 
federacy had anything to do with the assas- 
sination of Mr. Lincoln; nor was slavery in 
any way responsible for it, except in so far as 
slavery was an occasion of the Civil War. 



co:n^federate echoes. 63 

These writers have evidently forgotten the 
actual facts that led to the commission of 
this crime—facts which are not stated in 
many histories. 

"John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated 
Mr. Lincoln, was a citizen of the United 
States — not of the Confederate States. He 
was at no time a resident of any of the se- 
ceded States. His Southern sympathies did 
not lead him to come to the South and make 
common cause with the South. It was not 
an ardent love of the South or of the South- 
ern cause that prompted Mr. Booth's crime, 
but rather a spirit of revenge for the per- 
sonal wrong that Mr. Lincoln had done in 
having Capt. John Young Beall, one of 
Booth's friends, executed unjustly. 

"The editor of the Christian Observer was 
acquainted with Captain Beall. He was a 
native Virginian, a member of a good fami- 
ly, a college graduate, a brave young man of 
attractive personality. In Richmond, Va., 
we boarded at the same house, ate at the 
same table, and we learned to appreciate his 
sterling worth. He possessed traits similar 



5^ COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

to those which, during the Spanish-Amer- 
icaii War, made Richmond Pearson Hobson 
the idol of the American people. And when, 
in the fall of 1864, a man was wanted to lead 
a hazardous enterprise and make a diversion 
on Lake Erie, he prom})th" responded to the 
call of his government, the Southern Confed- 
eracy. With a handful of brave seamen, he 
seized a steamboat on Lake Erie, made its 
crew prisoners, converted it into a war ves- 
sel, captured or sank one or more other boats, 
terrorized the commerce of the Great Lakes, 
produced a panic in Builalo and the cities 
on the lakes, and thoroughly alarmed the 
Northern people. In process of time he was 
captured. He was tried by a court-martial 
and sentenced to death as a pirate. 

"John Wilkes Booth interested himself in 
his behalf, obtained from the Confederate 
Government at Richmond, Ya., the evidence 
that he was a conunissioned officer of the 
Confederate Navy; he obtained also evi- 
dence that his acts were those of legitimate 
warfare, and that he w'as acting under spe- 
cific instructions from the Confederate gov- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 55 

ernment. Booth went to Lincoln armed 
with these documents and secured from him 
the promise tliat Captain Beall should not be 
put to death, l^ut should be treated as a pris- 
oner of war. This promise of Mr. Lincoln 
gave offense to Secretary Seward, who per- 
suaded him, in the face of it, to sanction 
Captain Beall's execution. And Captain 
Beall was hanged at Governor's Island, ]S'ew 
York, on February 24, 1865. 

"John Wilkes Booth was fearfully wrought 
up by the death of his friend, in such cir- 
cumstances. He denounced the killing in 
cold blood of a prisoner of war, after he had 
surrendered, as murder ; and the doing it 
after the President had given his word that 
it should not be done Vi^ falsehood and treach- 
ery^ and vowed vengeance against the au- 
thors of this v,'rono-. 

"At once he organized a conspiracy for 
the assassination of President Lincoln and 
Secretary Seward; and on the night of the 
14th of Apj'il, 1865, only seven weeks after 
Captain Beall was hanged, the plot was exe- 
cuted. Booth- shot Mr. Lincoln at Ford's 



56 COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 

Theater, Washington, exclaiming, "/S'ic sem- 
per tyrannisr' and on the same night Paine, 
one of his fellow-conspirators, inflicted seri- 
ous, but not mortal, wounds on William H. 
Seward, Secretary of State. 

" The United States was fearfully aroused 
by the assassination of the President. At 
first it was suspected that the crime had been 
instigated by Confederates. Many promi- 
nent citizens of the Confederacy were ar- 
rested. The most thorough and searching 
examination was made. And it was conclu- 
sively proved that no representative of the 
Confederate government and no one in the 
Southern Confederacy had any part in it. . . . 

"During the nineteenth century slavery 
was abolished by Great Britain, Sweden, 
France, Hollandj Brazil, Spain, Germany, and 
Egypt. Even Kussia abolished serfdom. 
By all these countries it was peacefully 
effected. Mr. Lincoln's statesmanship was 
exhibited in that in this country alone the 
emancipation of the slaves was made the oc- 
casion of the most terrible civil war of the 
century. His campaign speeches threat- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 57 

ened incalculable evil to the slaveholding 
States, in case he should be elected; and his 
election was the occasion of the secession of 
seven slaveholding States soon after, and in 
quick succession, not speaking of those that 
seceded when his war measures were put on 
foot. Then followed the long war to drive 
them back into the Union. God's hand was 
in these events. And when Mr. Lincoln 
had apparently triumphed, and before there 
was opportunity for exultation, there came 
the startling, fearful crime which suddenly 
ended his life. If it be regarded as a judg- 
ment, it was from the Lord. The South had 
no hand in it." 

Was Lincoln prepared in a religious sense 
for this sudden summons to the bar of God? 
The question is too awful for me to under- 
take to answer; but it is a fact that he was 
not known to have professed in any presence 
to be a Christian, nor evinced any real inter- 
est in religion; on the other hand, he was 
known to have shown contempt for the 
whole system of Christianity and its divine 
Founder, and at one time to have written a 



58 COXPEDERATE ECHOES. 

book against them. By profession he had 
been an infidel and religious scoffer, and this 
country never knew such a man of blood as 
he was. 

J^otwithstanding these facts, his admiring 
biographers and apologists have written 
voluminously to show up in a bright light 
his Christian character, as they would have 
it. JS^othing of this sort was thought of 
before Booth shot him, but ever since then 
they have been on the hunt for some sure 
evidence that he was a Christian. No such 
evidence has been found, and there is no 
likelihood that it ever v»ill be. Indeed, if he 
had been a Christian, the evidence of it, in 
tlie position he occupied, would have been 
before the world, and not to be hunted up, as 
it has been, without the slightest likelihood 
of finding it. Was it ever so before, that 
searchers without number must be seiit out 
in every direction to find the proof that a 
man was a Christian? "By their fruits ye 
shall know them," says our Lord. And he 
also gives this admonition, after saying that 
his followers are the lig-ht of the world: " Let 



CO:N^FEDEIiATE ECHOES. 59 

your light so shine before men, that they 
may see your good works, and glorify your 
Father which is in heaven." 

Very obvious is it to my mind that the 
men who are so eager to canonize Abraham 
Lincoln would do so on the ground that he, 
with his overwhelming armies, subdued ours, 
and "crushed out the rebellion," whether or 
not there be any evidence that he was a 
worshiper of the Prince of Peace. These 
same men also who are so deeply interested 
in establishing the piety of Lincoln would 
consign Mr. Jefferson Davis to the pit of 
destruction forever, for the reason that he 
was President of the Southern Confederacy, 
^or Avould they scruple to send there, if 
they could, all of us who fought against 
Lincoln's invading armies. So it has ever 
seemed to me. 



CHAPTER lY. 



Slavery and the War — Abolitionists — The Negr 
Expensiveness of Slavery — Overseers. 

JUST how much iiegTO shivery in the South- 
ern States had to do in bringing on the war 
between the ^orth and the South we may 
not be able to say to our full satisfaction, but 
the party of hate in the ISTorth, for Southern 
slave owners, who elected Lincoln, had 
shown for many years a merciless propen- 
sity to accomplish our destruction by what- 
ever means they could. They gloried in the 
opportunity that was oiiered them by the 
election of Lincoln to embark in a campaig-n 
against us, with the army and navy of the 
United States subject to the orders of their 
chieftain. This was the auspicious time to 
them to pour the vials of their destructive 
spite upon us, and they were not reluctant 
to avail themselves of it. Another such op- 
portunity^ might never occur for them to 
(60) 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 61 

vent their spleen to a purpose upon us, and 
the war began. They cared nothing for the 
slaves, but were envious of the owners, and 
hated them because of their prosperity, and 
on the same principle that Cain hated 
Abel. 

As to why we fought, we simply did so 
because Lincoln fought us. If he had not 
fought us, there would have been no w^ar. 
Did we fight to hold onr slave property — 
was that the prime motive with us? In the 
slave States there was not more than one in 
two dozen white people who owned slaves, 
and of that number a great many were 
children and women and feeble old men. 
The actual percentage of slaveholding sol- 
diers in our armies was exceedingly small 
compared to those who were not. So that 
the great bulk of our soldiers had no slaves 
to fight for, and yet we were all one in senti- 
ment — to cut loose from the meddlesome 
and vicious abolition citizenship of our coun- 
try and establish a government of peace and 
liarmony in the South — and, whether slave- 
holder or not, we vv^ere of one mind in resist- 



62 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

ing Lincoln's unholy and unlawful measures 
to defeat our purposes. 

It has been said of the war that it was 
"the rich man's war and the poor man's 
fight." That may have been so in the 
^N^orth, but it was not so in the South. Our 
poor people were as stout against the Lin- 
coln movement against us as the rich were. 
Truly it can be said of our people that the 
rich and the poor met together in withstand- 
ing the armed encroachment upon our con- 
stitutional liberties. 

JSTothiug would do Abraham, of the house 
of Lincoln, in his dealings with us, but a 
fight; and fight him w^e did, with such 
energy and courage as to startle him im- 
mensely; and we would have driven him and 
his Yankees to the other side of anywhere if 
he had not recruited his armies with vast 
hordes of hired soldiery from across the 
ocean. 

The professed sympathy for, and interest 
in, our slaves on the part of the Plymouth 
Rock tribe of Yankees was hypocritical, as 
has already been intimated. They cared not 



COi^FEDEIlATE ECHOES. 63 

to make freedmen of them for their good, 
but for the hurt of their owners. That they 
hated us with a perfect hatred had been ob- 
vious long before a war was thought of. 
With the batteries of their mouths and pens 
they had been bombarding us at long range 
for an age for our undoing in some sort, and 
to bring us into discredit in the estimate 
of the civilized world. In books and peri- 
odicals, and on the rostrum, they advertised 
to the world that we were the veriest devils 
in human flesh because we were the consti- 
tutional owners of slaves who were incapa- 
ble of self-government, or lived in States 
where we might own them. They per- 
formed the loftiest and most sympathetic 
feats of lying about our treatment of slaves, 
about which they actually knew nothing. 
This is the saintly tribe that Lincoln became 
the head of, made up mainly of long-haired 
men and women in breeches. The most suc- 
cessful and effectual slanderer of the South 
among them was a woman, by name Har- 
riet Beecher Stowe, the sister of Henry 
Ward Beecher, of I'Torthern fame. 



64: CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

When Mrs. Stowe wrote her " Uncle 
Tom's Ciibiii," she perpetrated the basest of 
calumnies on the South, and put in motion 
the most potent factor of hate for our peo- 
ple that had yet been inaugurated. Her 
book was immediately in demand from every 
direction, and was soon read, to our preju- 
dice, by thousands of people throughout the 
IS^orth. It crossed the ocean on its mission 
of harm to us, and was translated into most 
of the European languages, and read by the 
people of those countries. The eifect was to 
bring us into contempt, wherever it went, 
as a heartless set of slave-driving savages, 
albeit the South was known to be the most 
fertile field of true statesmanship and exalted 
piety in America. And it also had the ef- 
fect of greatly accelerating the abolition 
movement throughout the ]^orthern States. 
The pen of that woman was mighty indeed 
in drawing the line between the ^N^orth and 
South Avith greater distinctness than ever 
before, and creating antagonisms between 
the two sections in such intensified forms as 
to make a sectional war possible. 



CON^rEDERATE ECHOES. 65 

But people grow old with years, and 
sometimes live to see that what were once 
considered great exploits of theirs were 
their greatest blunders. So it was with Mrs. 
Stowe: she lived to see the awful mistake 
she made in writing such a book of slander 
and hate, deeply lamented having done so, 
many of the evil results of it having come 
to her view, and suffered no one to talk 
to her about it. It came to be a gnawing- 
worm in her conscience, and ultimately her 
brilliant mind gave down, and she spent 
several years before her death a mental im- 
becile. 

That same Plymouth Kock tribe did not 
pause in their venomous pursuit of us when 
the negroes were freed and the war was 
ended, but have been gnarling and snai^ping 
at us ever since, thus giving additional evi- 
dence of the fact that they meant our harm 
rather than the negro's good by their eman- 
cipation schemes. It would be bliss to them 
unspeakable if they could only get the heel 
of the negro on our necks — and keep it 
there. 
5 



66 COiN^rEDEKATE ECHOES. 

Taking the facts as they actually existed 
with the Southern slaveholders, no one 
can truthfully say that we gave our upcoun- 
try brethren any occasion or ground for 
their spitefulness toward us. They were 
more responsible, through their forefathers, 
than we were for the existence of African 
slavery in America — it was here long before 
this country ceased to be under the domin- 
ion of Great Britain — and we owned our 
slaves under the same Constitution that our 
]!^orthern haters did. And, moreover, slav- 
ery once existed in the IS^orth, and it was 
dispensed with because it was unprofitable 
there, the slaves having been parted with for 
a money consideratioUo 

As to the Yankees improving the condi- 
tion of the negroes by securing their free- 
dom, that has not yet been demonstrated. 
Every one who lived in the South before the 
war knows that negroes were well treated 
and provided for, as a rule, and that they 
were contented and orderly. There was also 
a warm personal attachment, which was mu- 
tual, to their owners, which mao\3 their rela- 



J 



COI*rPEDERATE ECHOES. 67 

tions always pleasant. How the negroes at 
large now are, the world can see. Certain it 
is that the freedom of the negro, with his 
citizenship thrown in, has not been a ben- 
ediction to our countr}^, ISTorth or South. 
Their citizenship in this country, when they 
themselves are incapable of self-government, 
is an absurdit}'^ and an enormity — a curse 
both to them and to us. What to do with 
them has long been the biggest problem that 
we have had to contend with, and the solu- 
tion of it seems yet far in the distance. 

As anxious as Lincoln's Yankees were to 
do us hurt, did they, after all, do us a real 
harm by depriving us of our slave property ? 
We have raised no wail of grief about it, 
which they hoped to hear, and none of us 
could be induced for any consideration to 
take part in a movement to re-enslave the 
negroes, if such a thing was of easy accom- 
plishment, because it would be of no interest 
to us to do so. 

And this reminds me that we often make 
an erroneous impression on the minds of our 
young people, who have grown up since the 



68 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

abolition of slavery, by saying that we are 
glad of such abolition. They are thus made 
to believe that slavery was of such a crimi- 
nal nature that we are relieved to get rid of 
it, than which nothing can be farther from 
the real fact of the matter. Domestic slav- 
ery in the South was not a crime. !N^ot so, 
at least, if the scriptural rule were observed 
by masters in dealing with their slaves. 
The institution itself was not criminal, the 
Scriptures being our authority, l^o; we 
feel relieved that, in the abolition of slavery, 
a tremendous responsibility has been lifted 
from our shoulders, which we are not willing 
to take upon us again. And, moreover, we 
who owned slaves are not so sure but that 
onr financial condition in the long run was 
improved by having them taken from us, 
without remuneration, by malevolent proc- 
lamation and diabolical enginery. As al- 
ready stated, the great majority of white 
people owned no slaves, the reason being, 
with multitudes of these, that they could use 
the worth of a negro to better advantage 
than by buying a negro with it. 



CO]^FEDEKATE ECHOES. 69 

In truth, it was a very expensive thing to 
own negroes to any considerable extent, and 
it took close management, especially on 
farms, where most of them were, to make 
slave labor profitable. For them houses had 
to be provided, food and clothing furnished, 
the doctor's bills i^aid, etc. And^then there 
was always a considerable per cent of non- 
laboring negroes on hand, such as children 
and superannuated men and women, who 
were only an expense to the owner. The la- 
bor of those who, from sickness or other 
cause, were disabled was, for the time being, 
also lost. And the house servants, who 
were more expensively clad than the "out- 
hands," brought in no money for their la- 
bors. They were useful in their places as 
cooks, dining room servitors, nurses, etc., 
but their work put no money into the pockets 
of their owners. ^N^or were the field hands 
equally valuable as laborers. Some of the 
men were less able to work than others, and 
the women and children who " worked out " 
could not do much of the work that had to 
be done. 



70 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

The wages of the overseer must also be 
taken into account as an expense item of con- 
siderable importance. To be sure, there were 
some men with few neg-roes on small farms 
who had no need of another man to over- 
look his negroes and farming concerns, but 
most men owning negroes found it best to 
have a judicious overseer to be with the farm 
hands all the time and direct their work in 
keeping with the wishes of the master. 
These overseers were usually men of fine 
ability as farmers and managers of negroes, 
and always commanded good wages when 
they had had experience. Their wages 
ranged, I will say, from $500 to $1,500, or 
more, according to the extent of the farm- 
ing operations to be carried on, a man with 
twenty-five or thirty negroes on his farm 
paying f 500. Some men had negroes by the 
hundreds, and even running up into the 
thousands, when several overseers were 
needed to take the management of them, 
always under the direction of the owners. 

These overseers have been the worst ma- 
ligned of all men in the South by the sweet- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 71 

toned Yankeedoodlebugs as ferocious and 
heartless "negro drivers;" but they were, as 
a rule, men of a high order of intelligence, 
with no disposition whatever to maltreat 
those whom they w^ere employed to over- 
look and direct in their labors. Moreover, 
if any were so disposed, and indulged that 
disposition in the slightest, the master would 
quickly hunt another overseer. ISTot only 
w^as cruelty to negroes not allowable from a 
humane standpoint; but it disqualified them 
from remunerative labor, and lessened their 
money value, which the owner could not af- 
ford. If cruelty were practiced anywhere 
without being corrected, it was very un- 
usual. 

It is a fact that not all slave owners, by 
far, found slave labor profitable, and many of 
them became so involved in debt by it that 
they were compelled to sell off* their slaves 
and embark in some business pursuit for a 
livelihood, other than relying on slave labor 
for a support. 

To give some idea of the value of negroes 
to those unacquainted with these matters, it 



72 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

is pertinent here to reproduce a price list of 
negroes made out on an Arkansas farm not 
a great while before the war, the ages in- 
cluded : 

Name. Age. Value. 

Harry 61 $ 350 

Milly Fox 50 800 

Nathan 23 1,500 

Calvin 38 1,300 

Stephen 17 1,200 

Burt 11 1,000 

Sam 7 750 

Mary Ann 25 800 

Amy 18 900 

Emily U 800 

Sarah 9 750 

Louisa 6 400 

Cena 5 350 

Felix 4 300 

Allen 3 350 

Margaret li 150 

Isaiah 20 1,100 

Anthony 21 1,300 

Jim 12 800 

Milly Rose 37 700 

Maria 34 600 

Caroline 16 1,050 

Keziah 19 1,200 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 73 

, Name. Age. Value. 

Amanda 10 $ 750 

Pleasant 8 400 

Elias 4: 300 

Dorcas 2 200 

Epps 37 1,100 

Harriet 30 744 

John 46 840 

Jake 16 1,250 

Elijah 8 800 

Jerry 40 800 



CHAPTER Y. 



My Enlistment — Lagi'ange, Ala.— Go to Corinth, 
Miss.— All Things Fair in War. 

M OTIIIKG was farther from my mind 
i u throughout my boyhood and early man- 
hood days than the thought of going to war. 
My very dreams of the battlefield were of the 
most oppressive and appalling nature to me. 
And there is no conceivable probability with- 
in the range of my thoughts that any provo- 
cation other than such as did occur could 
have induced me to volunteer for military 
service. To Abraham J^incoln alone, the 
man who inaugurated and perpetuated the 
era of blood in these soverign American 
States, over which he proposed to exercise 
absolute sway, is due the credit of my be- 
coming a soldier on the firing line — a Rebel 
soldier, please your Honor! His original 
call for 75,000 volunteers to embark in a 
murderous assault upon Southern freemen, 
(74) 



COXFK DERATE ECHOES. 75 

unwarranted in every sense by any conduct 
of theirs or by any governmental preroga- 
tive, not only transformed me from a hearty 
Unionist into an ardent Secessionist, but also 
imbued me with the warrior spirit toward 
him and his adherents. 

In common with all Southrons, the need- 
less and shocking alternative was thus pre- 
sented to me of becoming a willing bond- 
servant to a heartless despot or of resisting 
his self-constituted authority with gun in 
hand. The latter I determined to do with 
whatever of courage and vehemence I could 
command, and without reference to the pos- 
sible outcome of such armed resistance. 
However, my military career in the field did 
not really begin until the " Fall of Donel- 
son, " February 16, 18G2. 

Before that disaster befell our arms, I, 
with most others in the South, did not think 
it needful for men having families to enlist 
in the Confederate army, except those who, 
having sufficient military knowledge, were 
capable of commanding, the general impres- 
sion among us being that Lincoln's invaders 



76 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

could be driven back with those who had 
no such responsibility resting upon them as 
the care of families. And so, having a fam- 
ily to care for, I did not feel constrained to 
enlist until that sorrowful event occurred. 
That disaster convinced me that every man 
in the South capable of bearing arms should 
join the Confederate army as an effective 
fighting soldier, and T at once began to make 
arrangements to enlist for the war, let that 
be long or short. 

My home at that time was in the Hermit- 
age community, thirteen miles from l^^ash- 
ville, Tenn., where I did not suppose it 
would be safe for me to leave my family; but 
thinking they would be forever out of reach 
of Yankee soldiers in Franklin (now Col- 
bert) County, IS^orth Alabama, I took them 
to the home of my uncle, J. Calvin Good- 
loe, living in that county. 

Upon reaching my uncle's I learned that 
a regiment of volunteer infantry was being 
organized at Lagrange, and I enlisted in 
that as soon as I could get my business 
affairs arranged, v;hich was not long after. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 77 

It was the Thirty-Fifth Alabama Regiment, 
and I became identified with Company D as 
a private, the company being named the 
Mollie Walton Guards for a maiden lady 
near Mooresville who contributed largely to 
its outfit in clothing, etc. Some months 
afterwards I was appointed Fifth Sergeant, 
and on September 24, 1862, I was elected 
Third Lieutenant. Shortly afterwards I 
was promoted to Second Lieutenant, and on 
December 10, 1862, advanced to First Lieu- 
tenant, which position I held to the close 
of the war. I had met but very few 
members of the regiment before I joined it; 
but I did not feel that I had cast my lot 
among strangers, for the spirit of devotion 
to our Southland bound us together as com- 
rades in a holy cause. 

Having kept a diary during my term of 
service as a reminder of what was daily 
transpiring where I was and elsewhere, I 
have felt inclined since the war to put to 
record in readable form the incidents and 
events therein briefly noted and adverted to, 
together with such observations as might be 



78 co:n^federate echoes. 

deemed proper in connection therewith. 
Counting myself a soldier of the rank and 
file, a disposition has also possessed me to 
write of the war from that standpoint, show- 
ing what army life was with us in its various 
features, and what our feelings and senti- 
ments were as day by day and year by year 
we met the demands of military duty. I 
would rescue from oblivion the blessed Old 
Reh with gun in hand, and perpetuate him 
in the hall of memory just as he was in all 
the stages and phases of army life, from the 
time that he left his home to fight for the 
South until he stacked his faithful gun with 
those of his comrades, and returned to the 
bosom of his family, if so fortunate as to 
live through it all. 

Though following in this work the line of 
march principally of my more immediate 
command, my observations are not confined 
to that by any means. And though I often 
make mention of myself and of others with 
whom I was closely associated, I do so in 
a representative way, using these as types of 
the genuine Confederate soldier. In this 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 79 

way only, I am sure, can real soldier life be 
brought to view. It is therefore designed 
that w^hat I write shall be as readable to the 
soldiers of one department of the army as 
another, and by citizens everywhere, friend 
or foe, who may wish to see us as avc were 
while the fight was on. I may hope to en- 
tertain and enliven the old soldier somewhat 
by what I write, but do not presume to en- 
lighten him, of course; there are those of 
this generation, however, who have very 
faint conceptions of our war in its details, 
and these I feel like I may instruct in these 
things, and bring them also into closer rela- 
tions and sympathy with our soldiery and 
our Confederacy. 

The Confederate soldier, be it here said, 
stands for more, in estimating the nobility of 
human character and the courage of one's 
convictions, than any other man of this age, 
and he represents a cause more sacred than 
which men never fought for. How impera- 
tive it is, then, that we all live up to the full 
measurement of perfect manhood in all our 
actions and dealings with others! 



80 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

"When I reported for enlistment at La- 
grange, Col. Robertson had command of the 
regiment, not yet entirely filled out, and it 
was being drilled from day to day prepara- 
tory to active service. It was not contem- 
plated that it would leave Lagrange until 
its organization was completed and it was 
equipped for service; but before this was 
done information reached us that the Yan- 
kees, already threatening that section of 
country, had found out our location and 
condition and were forming plans for our 
capture, which made it necessary for us to 
seek safer quarters as promptly as possible. 

Yery hurriedly w^e left Lagrange late 
Monday evening, April 14, 1862, without 
equipage of any kind, except that there 
were a few old guns and cartridges in Com- 
pany B. We took the Russellville road, and 
marched till nine o'clock at night, when 
we reached Spring Creek and went into 
camp. Here quite a serious accident oc- 
curred to Spivey, a member of the regiment. 
His gun was accidentally discharged, and 
wounded his arm so badly that Dr. Sanders 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 81 

had to amputate it. The next day we went 
on to Cedar Creek, our second encamp- 
ment for the night. 

Having a horse with me, Mike by name, 
which I rode to Lagrange and expected to 
send back from there to Uncle Calvin's — but 
which Col. Robertson preferred for me not 
to do just then, he being needed for scout- 
ing purposes — I was directed to ride a mile 
or two in the rear of the regiment, so as to 
give the alarm if pursuing Yankees were 
seen. This was to be done by making Mike 
outrun them, which doubtless he would 
have been fully capable of doing under the 
circumstances. 

Late in the night at Cedar Creek two 
members of the regiment who were not at 
Lagrange Avhen we started overtook us and 
brought information that the Yankee cav- 
alry were in pursuit of us, and were then at 
N^ewburg, a few miles beyond Russellville. 
Four others who could be mounted and my- 
self Avere hurried off at once (2 a.m., 
Ai:)ril 16) to find them if we could, and to 
report promptly the actual state of affairs 
6 



82 COXFEDERATE ECIIOEP. 

to Col. Robertson. One of this scouting 
party was the Rev. Robert A. Wilson, chap- 
lain of the regiment and member of the 
Tennessee Conference, Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. The others besides myself 
were Thad Felton, Isaac L. Pride, and 
William Russell. Felton acted as captain. 
Back to Russellville we went speedily, where 
one of the party Avas left to make observa- 
tions, and then on to Kewburg and beyond, 
but no Yankees could be found. 

While this military performance was be- 
ing enacted with vigor and relish, the regi- 
ment was marching on to Burleson, across 
Big Bear Creek, wiiich was considered a 
place of security, and which place it reached 
the same day. Here Col. Robertson decided 
to hold the regiment until he could get in- 
structions from army headquarters as to the 
command we were to report to, unless those 
everlasting Yankees should threaten us 
again, which indeed they proceeded to do, 
according to report, quite soou. 

Saturday, April 19, a very rainy day, a 
rumor reached Col. Robertson that the Yan- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 88 

kees with their long noses had scented lis 
again, and were marching in pursuit of us by 
way of Frankfort, and Brother Wilson and I 
were dispatched to that place to ascertain 
the facts in the case, while the regiment was 
put in motion for Corinth, Miss., the seat 
of war in the Mississippi Department. We 
then entered upon a really novel experience 
for a Methodist preacher and class leader. 
The latter position I held then in the Church. 
We were to act upon the principle that *^ all 
things are fair in war," so far as deceiving 
the enemy was concerned. Our ride to 
Frankfort, he on Ball and I on Mike, was 
interesting indeed. We were instructed by 
Col. Robertson to spread the report through 
the citizens along our route, so that the Yan- 
kees might hear of it, that the regiment was 
well armed and heavily re-enforced, and that 
the combined force was embarked in a cam- 
paign to clean out ]S^orth Alabama of 
Yankees; and with perfect painstaking we 
fulfilled our mission. There was intense ex- 
citement among the people everywhere we 
went, everybody expecting the Yankees to 



84 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

pounce upon them at any moment. We 
would allay their fears with deceptive state- 
ments about the strength and movements of 
our command, and they would spread the 
good neivs like wildfire. Under the pre- 
tense of wanting water, we called frequently 
at houses in order to get a favorable oppor- 
tunity to deliver our message of joy and de- 
ception to the startled inmates. We could 
not but feel sorry for them as we rode off, as 
we thought of how effectually we had delud- 
ed them. 

We arrived at Frankfort early in the aft- 
ernoon, and found a large crowd in the 
courtyard looking the other way, down the 
Tuscumbia road, expecting every minute to 
see the approaching Yankee column. Some 
of them saw us as we rode onto the square 
from the opposite direction; and not knowing 
who we were, but taking us for Yankees, 
called out to the rest: ''Yonder they come 
from the other way!" Recognizing Judge 
Trimble on the street, a former acquaintance 
of mine, I approached him and got such in- 
formation from him as we needed. I also 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 85 

loaded him up well with the ylad tidings 
that we had ample force and facilities for 
swabbing the ground with every Yankee in 
!N^orth Alabama. This information delighted 
him very much; and as he had all confidence 
in my leliability, he reproduced my state- 
ments with the utmost assurance to others. 
Since then I have often wondered what he 
thought of me for taking so much pains to 
tell him what was not so, supposing that he 
soon afterwards learned that our regiment, nei- 
ther armed nor re-enforced, was at that time 
hurrying along the road to Corinth with all 
possible speed. We had now gone as far as 
and done all that we were instructed to do, 
and from here we turned back to overtake 
our command. Whether we were instru- 
mental in diverting the Yankees from their 
supposed pursuit of the regiment or not, I 
never knew positively; but we heard no 
more of their hanging about us, and we 
marched on to Corinth without molestation, 
reaching there Wednesday, April 23, 1862. 

As we rode along fulfilling the mission 
upon which we were sent. Brother Wilson 



86 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

and I talked it over from the standpoint of 
the moral laAv, and settled the question in our 
minds that it was right to prevent the cap- 
ture of our men if possible by deceiving the 
enemy as far as we could, though it be done 
through the medium of unsuspecting parties; 
and more especially so, as we were acting 
under instructions from our commanding- 
officer in time of war. From that time on to 
the close of the war I never had any hesi- 
tancy in deceiving and misleading Yankee 
soldiers when an opportunity was afforded 
me to do so. 

The day before our regiment reached Cor- 
inth we were at Jacinto, Miss., where we 
had camped the night before, and there 
elected our field officers, it being thought 
best by all that we report to army headquar- 
ters as a fully organized command, rather 
than as a number of companies being led in 
a body by a nominal commanding officer, 
though recognized by us as our Colonel. 
We elected as colonel J. W. Robertson; 
lieutenant colonel, Edward Goodwin; ma- 
jor, Wm. M. Hunt. These were professors 



CO:srFEDEIlATE ECHOES. 87 

ill Lagrange College, and bad much to do 
in having the regiment made up and pre- 
pared for service. Hunt soon transferred to 
the Virginia army ; Kobertson, after a while, 
went into another department of service; 
and later on Goodwin died. As these parted 
from us others took their places, and we 
finally had Ives as colonel; Ashford, lieu- 
tenant colonel; and Dickson, major. 



CHAPTER YI. 



w 



Corinth— Our Generals Estimated, Etc. 

E reached Corinth at a time when the 
army seemed to be undergoing reorgani- 
zation under Gen. Bragg, and there was much 
appearance of confusion. AVe were first bro- 
ken up as a regiment, and the companies di- 
vided out among other regiments, which dis- 
tressed us very much, and caused universal 
regret that we did not report to some other 
commander rather than Gen. Bragg. If talk- 
ing about people makes their ears burn, we 
surely set his on fire. There is no telling- 
how many "blessings" he got, nor in what 
shapes. But April 30, 1862, came, and it was 
definitely determined that we, having been 
gathered together again Ajiril 26, and as- 
signed temporarily to Gardner's Brigade, be 
permanently attached to Preston's Brigade, 
of Breckinridge's Division. Then we had 

no further fault to find with Bragg. We 

(88) 



co:n^federate echoes. 89 

were with splendid soldiers, and we were 
highly pleased with our generals. We had 
no choice as to commands, however, only 
wishing to maintain our organization as a 
regiment. 

We were with Preston and Breckinridge, 
as brigade and division commanders, until 
after the battle of Baton Rouge, August 5, 
1862. JSTot long after that Kust and Lovell, 
brigadier and major generals were in com- 
mand in their stead, and were with us at the 
battle of Corinth, October 3, 4, 1862. Sub- 
sequent to that a short time Gen. Buford 
was our brigade commander, and Oren. Lo- 
ring our division commander; but Buford 
after awhile transferred to the cavalry serv- 
ice, and Col. Scott, of the Twelfth Louisiana 
Regiment of our brigade, being the ranking 
colonel, succeeded him. We were longest 
and best known as Biiford's Brigade, and 
even after Scott's promotion it was difficult 
for our brigade to change its name. An 
arni}^ dispensation for a lodge of Masons was 
procured, and this was named " Buford 
Lodge;" our Christian Association also was 



90 COI^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

named tlie "Christian Association of Bn- 
ford's Brigade; " and these names were never 
changed. It is worth while to say, however, 
that after Hood's campaign into Middle Ten- 
nessee, in which the magnificent army turned 
over to him by President Davis was almost 
destroyed, we could hardly be said to be in 
the command of any particular officer. What 
was left of the army was in scattered and 
shattered fraguients; and these, being thrown 
together in different shapes from time to 
time, were under the ranking officers at 
hand. Well, the fragments were turned over 
to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, from whom the 
original army had been taken, just before 
the final battle of Benton villc, and we began 
to assume some form and comeliness, but 
then the war was virtually at an end. 

We were satisfied in the main with our 
commanding generals of all ranks, though 
we did not think Pemberton, the ranking of- 
ficer at the battle of Baker's Creek, and 
Hood competent to be department command- 
ers, and I have several notes in my diary of 
dissatisfaction with Gen. Scott. To be sure 



CONFEDEllATE ECHOES. 91 

he was our brigade commander during the 
severe campaigns in Georgia and Tennessee, 
under Johnston first and then Hood np to 
the battle of Franklin, but we could not 
feel that he was such an officer as we were 
entitled to on such campaigns as those. 
His connection with an incident with which 
I also was connected, and of which I 
will here make mention, was certainly not 
creditable to him as a comrade in arms with 
those in his command, not to speak of any 
other estimate which could legitimately be 
put upon his conduct not favorable to him. 
While Hood was on the eve of giving up At- 
lanta, I was commanding our picket line on 
the left, Companies C and G of our regiment 
being at that time under my more immediate 
command, owing to a recent consolidation 
of companies. On a I'idge beyond our picket 
line, and separated from us by a narrow val- 
ley or bottom, the Yankee column was mov- 
ing southward to flank Hood on the left. 
The dark cloud of calamity was fast thicken- 
ing about us, and eventful scenes were trans- 
piring which were surpassingly momentous. 



92 COXFEDEIIATE ECHOES. 

August 20, 1864, I sent forward from our 
picket line two "boys" of my immediate 
command, Rufus Ilafley and Milton Gray, to 
watch the movements of the Yankees and 
note the size of tlieir column. They were 
gone but a short while until they came back 
with a mounted Yankee officer, James 
Coughlan, first lieutenant, and aid-de-cainp 
to Gen. Cox. They had just managed to 
secrete themselves from the enemy, and suf- 
ficiently near to them to make careful obser- 
vations, when Coughlan — a Kentucky Yan- 
kee, by the way — rode past them to try and 
get a view of our position. At the opportune 
moment Hafley and Gray rose up from their 
hiding place, then in his immediate rear, and, 
with their guns pointing at him, marched 
him quickly to where I was. He had the ap- 
pearance of having been well raised by Chris- 
tian parents, but was the lonesomest-looking 
Yankee I ever saw. He thought of his moth- 
er at once, who I understood him to say was 
a widov/, and who would be in great grief 
when she heai'd of his being lost from his 
command, thinking that he had been killed. 



CO]^FEDEIlATE ECHOES. 93 

He said that if he could only get a message 
to his command, and through it to his moth- 
er, that he was only a prisoner, and not slain, 
it would be great satisfaction to him. In this 
we gratified him at once, my Rebel boys agree- 
ing to go in speaking distance of his com- 
mand, and tell them of his whereabouts. This 
mission they performed as neatly as they did 
his capture, and him we sent to the rear, dis- 
arming him of course. 

Coughlan's equipment consisted in part of 
a pair of field glasses and a sword. His cap- 
tors wei'e more than pleased for me to have 
the sword, which was surrendered to me, and 
they wished to keep the glasses. Upon hear- 
ing of this capture, and that we had these ar- 
ticles in possession, Gen. Scott set to work 
to get possession of them — the glasses for 
himself, and the sword for his adjutant 
general. He ordered that they be delivered 
to his ordnance ofiicer for valuation, that he 
might take them at the price put upon them, 
taking advantage of a supposed military law 
that what is captured in battle belongs to the 
government, and if disposed of must be done 



94: co:npederate echoes. 

so through government appraisers. By this 
device he possessed liimself of the glasses, 
which he carried away with him after the 
battle of Franklin. These he got from the 
boys who took them, but I refused to send 
up the sword to the ordnance department. 

This note appears in my diary Tuesday, 
September 13, 1864: "I received to-day a 
written ' special order ' from Gen. Scott to 
deliver to his ordnance officer, the bearer of 
the special order, the sword surrendered to 
me by Yankee Lieut. Coughlan, A. D. C, 
etc., August 20, for the purpose of having it 
valued, and with the intention, on his part, of 
getting it for his adjutant general. This 
order I positively refuse to obey until I am 
assured by the bearer of it that I myself will 
be allowed to take it at valuation; and then, 
declining to deliver it to him, I take it up 
myself The Board of Appraisers value it, 
and I agree to pay the valuation, when Ord- 
nance Officer Boring (for this is his name), 
being posted by Scott, from all appearances, 
gets it in his hand, and refuses to give it 
back to me. This is more than I can stand. 



COIfl^FEDERATE ECHOES. 95 

My wrath gets the better of me, and I turn 
upon him such a volume of abuse that he is 
glad to let me take the sword to secure my 
departure from his presence." I had no fur- 
ther trouble about the sword, except that I 
felt the need of repenting before the Lord, 
which I did, for having given the rein to my 
temper on this occasion. 

The only chance to recover the glasses was 
through the war department at Kichmond. 
To this I made my complaint and appeal in 
due form, and confidently believe I would 
have succeeded after so long a time, had not 
our military affairs been thrown into inextri- 
cable confusion so soon after that. 

This is one of the relics of the war which 
I record with much hesitancy, from the fact 
that I love every Rebel, so called, who took up 
arms against the invasion of our Southland, 
and dislike to say anything to injure the 
character of any of them; and yet these in- 
cidents give an insight into some of the as- 
pects of army life which ought to be brought 
to view. 

As to Gens. Pemberton and Hood, made 



96 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

mention of as not being so popular with ns 
as other officers of their rank, their names 
and exploits have long since gone into the 
history of the " lost cause." They threw 
away two splendid armies; and their blun- 
ders were of such a nature as seemed to re- 
sult from recklessness rather than reason. 
The army which Pemberton took into the 
Yicksburg deadfall, where Loring refused to 
carry his division, was not a large one, but 
no braver troops ever went to battle. The 
army which Hood broke to pieces was the 
flower of the Confederacy when it was taken 
from Joseph E. Johnston and given to him. 
These two generals, Pemberton and Hood, 
we were accustomed to call, while under 
them, ''Jeff Davis's pets," but possibly we 
did both them and Davis an injustice in so 
doing. 

There was no mistaking the temper of the 
Confederate army at Corinth when the Thir- 
ty-fifth Alabama Kegiment reached there, 
April 23, 1862. The great battle of Shiloh 
had but recently been fought, where so 
many of our gallant comrades had fallen, but 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 97 

the survivors here encamped were as brave 
and defiant as they ever were, and as ready for 
battle as though they had never known its 
horrors. Besides various minor engagements, 
the fight at Farmington Friday, May 9, gave 
the enemy to understand that they were con- 
fronted by foemen whose valor was only in- 
tensified by their reverses. At Farmington 
the invaders were utterly outdone and rout- 
ed, throwing away knapsacks and other ac- 
couterments as they sought to escape from 
the yelling Rebels. 

On this battle ground, after the fight was 
over, Dr. I. F. Delony, a very particular 
friend of mine and member of our regiment, 
picked up and gave to me a very nice ]oock- 
et Bible. An inscription on it showed that 
it belonged to a Yankee soldier from Illinois 
named Scott, and that it was given to him by 
his mother. It was excellently bound in red 
leather, and as it was of more convenient 
size for carrying in my pocket, I made use 
of it mainly instead of mine. I read it 
through several times, and often wished that 

I had some way of conveying it to the own- 

7 



98 COIVFEDERATE ECHOES. 

er. When the war was over, I addressed a 
letter to him to the post office given in the 
book, receiving- no reply. About twenty-two 
years afterward my oldest son, to whom I 
had given the Bible, learned by correspond- 
ence with the postmaster in Illinois that he 
was at Lone Oak, Tex., and sent it to him. 
He wrote letters to my son and myself, ex- 
pressing his great satisfaction at its return; 
and I am sure that we were fully as glad that 
he had received it. He was one of Scho- 
field's soldiers. 

It seemed that a general engagement was 
imminent the whoTe time we were at Cor- 
inth, but up to the time that the army left 
there. May 29, 1862, no great battle was 
fought. We were several times in line of 
battle for a general onset, and there was 
much skirmishing first and last; but the 
Farmington fight, which was not an exten- 
sive one, was the largest battle that took 
place during our stay there. We believed 
then, and I believe now, that had the Yan- 
kees been as ready of mind for a fight as we 
were, we would have joined battle any day; 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 99 

but they still stood in terror of Rebels, not- 
withstanding the important advantages they 
had recently gained over lis. The}^ knew 
also that it took two or three of their sol- 
diers to whip one of ours, and that then it 
was uncertain on a fair, open field. This is 
not mere boasting, for on several occasions 
they were routed with less than half their 
numbers when the field was open, and never 
did they drive a Confederate army with 
fewer men than were in it. How could they 
fight as the Confederates did, when the high- 
est motives that prompted them in the main 
were of a mercenary and spiteful sort; when 
the Confederates were standing for their in- 
alienable rights of property, country, and 
home? The love of country may have moved 
some of them to take up arms against us, 
but who does not know that had this been 
the only incentive allowed in the formation 
of a Yankee army to enlist for our subjuga- 
tion, scarcely a corporal's guard, so to speak, 
could have been drummed up, and that there 
would have been no further dream of war? 
At Corinth our war experiences in their 



100 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

varied forms set in with stirring vigor, 
every feature of which, from messing to 
lighting, abounded in interest to me. The 
messing arrangements among soldiers is 
truly an interesting spectacle — the break- 
ing up of the companies into squads for 
cooking and eating purposes. The mess 
need not consist of any particular number 
of soldiers, and the principles of selection 
upon which it was formed were large- 
ly under the control of existing circum- 
stances. Sometimes it was much larger than 
at others, as when, from sickness, some mem- 
bers were at the hospital, or some had died, 
or some were on furlough, etc. Congenial- 
ity had much to do with the formation of a 
mess, in a general way, but the making of 
arrangements for securing a cook, and the 
necessities of the situation in regard to tents 
when there were any, our location, the num- 
ber of absentees, etc., were controlling fac- 
tors in their formation. We would organize, 
after a sort, by having one of our number as 
a kind of leader to draw rations, superintend 
the cooking, etc.; that is to say, when we 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 101 

were in a condition to inaugurate a form 
and had a cook for the mess. On active 
campaigns, and as the army became depleted 
by sickness and death and the various cas- 
ualties of war, we simply dropped together 
in messes, few or many, as the exigencies 
of our surroundings indicated; and oftener 
cooking our own rations than having a hired 
cook to do so. 

Sometimes we were supplied with cooking- 
utensils, and sometimes we were not. For 
a long time, in some of the stages of the 
war, we baked our bread on an old broken 
piece of flat iron that we had picked up 
among the rubbish of a town near our en- 
campment, and cooked our meat (beef) by 
holding it to the fire on a stick or ramrod; 
and not unfrequently we were put to the ne- 
cessity of baking our bread in the ashes. 
We usually had some kind of tin, good or 
indifferent, to make up the dough in, but we 
sometimes had to use hickory bark peeled off 
in large pieces for that purpose, and would 
right often cut out a tray in the top of a log. 

Among our cooking utensils mention must 



102 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

be made of the frying pans that we made by 
bursting open Yankee canteens, which we 
woukl hold over the fire by slipping the edge 
of the half canteen into the split end of a 
stick, which served as a handle. These can- 
teens were made of two concavo-convex tin 
plates, fastened together around their edges, 
and which could easily be blown open by 
putting a little powder in them and igniting 
it. We would only thus destroy the can- 
teen as such when it began to leak, for we 
needed all the canteens we could get for car- 
rying water, and then we would use the side 
that did not leak for a frying i^an. This 
utensil was especially adapted for making 
cush in out of our bread when it was too old 
to be good eating otherwise; and our cush 
was so palatable at times that we would de- 
clare that we were going to live on cush al- 
together when we got home from the war. 

My first messmates after i-eaching Corinth 
were Dr. Isaac F. Deloney, Eichard Coleman, 
Peter Beasley, Charles O. Shephard, and 
Thomas Jones. I was taken sick on the eve 
of leaving Corinth, and when I rejoined the 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 103 

command at Tupelo shortly afterwards, June 
10, I made this note in my diary: "I am 
quite saddened to find that all of my mess- 
mates have gone off sick to the hospital, and 
I have to fall in with others of my friends." 
Jones, not being able for duty, was dis- 
charged at Corinth. Ed Fletcher and per- 
haps some one else had been added to our 
mess before leaving there. At Tupelo W. 
G. Whitfield and W. P. Cockrill became my 
permanent messmates, other friends being 
in with us a great deal of the time. But we 
three ate and slept together many days and 
nights. The last named, my brother-in-law, 
and yet a boy, came to the regiment while 
in camp at Tupelo, Wednesday, June 18, 
1862, and that day was sworn into the serv- 
ice and joined my company. 

As to the washing of clothes, which may 
as well be mentioned in this connection, we 
were often put to considerable straits for 
lack of suitable vessels, but usually there 
were negroes enough along with us as cooks 
to do the washing at some citizen's house or 
borrow vessels and wash in camp when we 



104 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

had none of our own. When there was no 
other chance, we would take our soiled clothes 
to the creek and get out what dirt we could 
with cold water. I made one effort of this 
kind, but the garment looked worse soiled 
after it was washed than it did before, and I 
never repeated the undertaking. With the 
best facilities for washing that we had in 
camp and on the march, it was simply im- 
possible for us to have clean clothes as of- 
ten as needful, and we wore soiled garments 
a great deal. Remembering that we spread 
our pallets (blankets) at night on the ground, 
that we lay down on the ground to rest when 
on the march, that we often fought lying 
on the ground, that we marched in mud and 
dust, that we worked on fortifications and dug 
rifle pits, etc., the wonder is that we could 
keep our clothing at all clean. 

Owing to recent rains there were many lit- 
tle wet weather branches, affording us a good 
supply of water when our regiment first 
reached Corinth; and when the little streams 
ceased to run, the ground was still saturated 
with water, so that we could dig little holes 



CON^FEDEKATE ECHOES. 105 

anywhere and have springs, as we called 
them. After awhile, however, the ground 
began to dry out, and water became very 
scarce and very bad. There was much sick- 
ness before w^e left there, many soldiers hav- 
ing to be sent oif to the hospitals. We grew 
weary of the place, and it was without any 
regret on the part of any of us that we re- 
ceived orders to leave there, taking our de- 
parture May 29, 1862. 

We knew not then that we would return 
in the fall to take part in the battle of Cor- 
inth October 3, 4. On the second day of that 
battle the Thirty-fifth Alabama Regiment was 
formed on the identical ground upon which it 
was encamped before leaving there in May. 
When the army was put in motion for the 
second day's engagement, an impression came 
upon me (a mere apprehension perhaps) that 
I would fall that day in battle, and I thought 
of wife and my two little boys, one of them 
having been born soon after my enlistment 
and the death of our little Loulie, and deliv- 
ered to Brother Wilson, our chaplain, a mes- 
sage for my wife. I knew that a cloud of gloom 



106 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

would rest upon her if I were slain, but I 
knew that 1 could somewhat comfort her 
and my older boy, who could then under- 
stand such things, with a message from the 
field ere I felJ, the substance of which was 
that I was perfectly ready to meet my God 
in peace, and that I expected that she and 
the children would join me in the better 
world. I was not slain, but Brother Wilson, 
who had never seen my family, kept the mes- 
sage in mind until he had an opportunity of 
delivering it. "While I was pastor of the 
Antioch Circuit, Tennessee Conference, in 
1875, he greatly surprised me one summer 
day by walking into the parsonage. He was 
a most welcome visitor in our, household. 
Having introduced him to my wife, I asked 
him to be seated. "I have a message for 
you. Sister Goodloe, which I will first deliv- 
er," said he, " and then I will sit down." In 
a most feeling manner he spoke of the inter- 
view he and I had on the eve of battle, and 
delivered the message which I had given him 
for wife in the event I were slain. Of course 
we wiped the tears from our eyes then. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 107 

It was never my misfortune during the 
war to be an inmate of a hospital, a place for 
which I had a decided horror, but I would 
have been sent off to one with many other 
sick soldiers the day before Corinth was 
evacuated in May if Dr. Sanders, surgeon of 
the regiment, had not forgotten that I was 
sick. I was lying sick in my tent, and knew 
nothing of what order had been given in ref- 
erence to the sick until they were all gone 
and until the tents were being struck for re- 
moval and the wagons were being hitched 
up. The command also had received orders 
to fall in and march to the front. For a mo- 
ment a sense of solitude came over me, which 
was painful indeed. Applying to Col. Robert- 
son, I got permission to get in the surgeon's 
wagon, which, with the rest of the wagon 
train, was going to the rear, and which 
moved southward on the Kossuth road as the 
command went northward to the front, the 
Yankees being in that direction, and not far 
oif. Dr. Sanders, seeing that I was too sick to 
travel in this way, advised me to stop in at a 
house on the road and take the best care of 



108 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

myself that I could. Five miles from Cor- 
inth, and just across Tuscumbia Creek, I 
came to a house which had an attractive ap- 
pearance, and asked of the owner permission 
to stop with him. lie did not hesitate to 
take me in, hut let me know that he was pre- 
parhig to take liis family farther south. 
Upon forming the acquaintance of the fami- 
ly I found that I was among the near rela- 
tives of my wife, and as generous-hearted 
people as it is possible to be. Capt. Allen, 
of the Confederate service, whose com- 
mand was captured at Donelson, was my 
host, and he was also ni}^ wife's first cousin 
by marriage, his wife being the daughter of 
William Rose, wdio lived near Pulaski, Tenn. 
Mrs. Allen's younger sister was staying with 
her, and was the wife of Col. Fields, of Ma- 
ney's old regiment. The family completed 
arrangements May 30 to move to Col. Buch- 
anan's, in some way related to them, living 
fourteen miles above Aberdeen, and they took 
me along with them, making me perfectly 
comfortable on the trip and carefully looking 
after my every want. At Col. Buchanan's 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 109 

the same generous hospitality was shown me 
that I had received at the hands of the noble 
family who had brought me there. My im- 
provement was steady, and in a few days I 
reported to my command. In my heart I 
praised God for the kind providence which 
gave me into the care of those who so readi- 
ly and so heartily ministered to me, and in- 
voked the benedictions of heaven upon them 
all; which also I inscribed in my diary. 

"What would have been the result if I had 
been placed in an ambulance at Corinth and 
sent off to the hospital, then situated at Oko- 
lona, cannot be known, but many Avho did go 
there never recovered, because the attention 
could not be shown them that was necessary 
in their cases. There was perhaps no inten- 
tional neglect of sick soldiers in the hospi- 
tals, but there was at times a measure of cul- 
pable carelessness, and there were more 
patients in some of the hospitals than the 
medical attendants could well look after. 
This was the only case of sickness with me 
during the war that took me from my com- 
mand, except a brief attack of hemorrhoids 



110 CO]S^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

while on the Big Black, when I stopped with 
Col. Love, near Canton, whose wife was the 
daughter of my uncle. Rev. David S. Goodloe. 
Here, of course, I was as one of the family, 
and had every needful attention shown me. 
I felt that I was taking bilious fever, which 
was my disease at Corinth, when we were in 
the act of leaving Port Hudson, and had 
much fever while on the march, but I deter- 
mined to keep on foot as long as I could, 
and did so until I was well. Twice I had se- 
vere attacks of the army flux, as it was called, 
but refused to stop, and cured myself while 
doing duty. I had about as much horror of 
a hospital as I had of a Yankee prison, and 
was determined to keep out of them both if 
possible; and I never had the bad luck to be 
in either one. Many a noble Confederate 
soldier went to the grave from both these in- 
stitutions who would not have died had he 
been elsewhere. 

An amusing incident occurred with a sick 
soldier of my company who was sent to the 
hospital at Okolona. He believed that he 
was sent there to be cured, but the first 



CO^JTEDERATE ECHOES. Ill 

sight which greeted his eyes upon reaching 
there was a room seemingly full of coffins, 
and a number of workmen busily engaged in 
making more. At once lie was overcome 
with the impression that greater preparations 
were being made to bury soldiers than to 
cure them, and summoning all the strength 
that remained in him, he walked away from 
the hospital instead of into it when taken 
out of the ambulance. He found a private 
family not far from town w^ho cared for him 
in their home until he recovered. It was 
with him like it is with some people on a 
lofty elevation, that feel jiossessed of a kind 
of suicidal mania to jump off; upon seeing 
those coffins he felt impelled to die and be 
buried in one of them, and it frightened him 
away from the place. 

But why were those coffins in sight of the 
sick and w^ounded soldiers who were carried 
to the hospital? This suggests the state- 
ment of the humiliating fact that not all 
those who had the oversight of soldiers need- 
ing medical attention were in sympathy with 
them, and willing to take the pains that werq 



112 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

necessary for their comfort and cure. Just 
think of exhibiting a coffin factory to a pa- 
tient upon his entering' the hospital ! Though 
strictly in the fighting department, I had 
much to do ^Yith the sick first and last, being 
myself a graduate in medicine, and was en- 
abled to see with my own eyes that those in 
authority were often extremely careless of 
their well-being in any sense. In several in- 
stances I have had to withstand very decid- 
edly and defiantly those who were over me 
in rank, because of their injustice, as I saw 
it, to the sick, in not allowing them such 
privileges as were needful for their improve- 
ment, and in having them under suspicion as 
pretending to be sick to get off diity. With 
some officers, unworthy of course of the po- 
sition which they held, a sick soldier was 
about on a par with a sick hog. I had per- 
sonal knowledge, and noted it in my diary 
at the time, of a colonel attending the sur- 
geon's call of his regiment as a detective, to 
find out who were the ''play-outs," and to 
see that the surgeon was not too liberal in 
excusing men from duty, as though he was 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 113 

competent for such a self-imposed task as 
this. His heartlessness and presumption 
were made apparent, and he brought upon 
himself the contempt of those who had 
knowledge of his conduct. 

But the well-being of sick soldiers was not 
always disregarded by those whose business 
it was to look after them, and often they were 
taken in hand and tenderly cared for by those 
who were not connected with the army. 
There is no telling the number of good wom- 
en, not to speak of men not in the service, 
who came into our camps and hospitals, and 
carried to their homes sick and wounded sol- 
diers, giving them the best possible attention 
until their recovery or death. And I must 
believe that as a rule Confederate officers 
were ready to do all that they could, and 
with hearts of sympathy, for the good of the 
disabled of their commands from sickness or 
wounds. But in the holiest cause unworth}- 
men sometimes wear the insignia of authority, 
and often to its great hurt. It may as well 
be stated also that it was not altogether un- 
common for some in the ranks to feign sick- 



Ill CO^^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

ness in order to get off fatigue duty or keep 
out of battle. Patriotism did not move all 
in any position to meet all the demands of 
duty. JSTeither is the Church of God com- 
posed altogether of loyal members. 



CHAPTER yil. 
<#' — 

Army Movements after the Evacuation of Corinth 
Briefly Stated — Various Reflections. 

TO trace the course of that part of the 
Confederate army with which the Thirty- 
fifth Alabama Regiment was connected aft- 
er the evacuation of Corinth, May 29, 1862, so 
as to bring its journey ings and encampments 
as clearly to vi'ew as possible in their consecu- 
tive order, it must necessarily be done in as 
few words as possible. Much must be left 
unsaid, therefore, for the time being, connect- 
ed with those movements, army life, etc., to 
be told hereafter, in part at least. To follow 
up this army is to get a somewhat intelligent 
idea of the spirit with which the Confederate 
soldier was possessed when he took up arms 
against Lincoln's invaders; for who in the 
world does not know that Lincoln brought on 
the war between the States? 

From Corinth, after its evacuation the date 

(115) 



116 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

above given, the army was marched back to 
Tupelo, Miss., where it remained until Thurs- 
day, June 19. From Tupelo it marched 
across to Abbeville, on the Mississippi Cen- 
tral railway, where it took the train, June 26, 
for Yicksburg, via Jackson, reaching there 
the night of June 28. Sunday, July 27, 
the Thirty-fifth Alabama Regiment, as part 
of the force ordered to Baton Rouge, left 
on the train for that place, going by way 
of Jackson, and quitting the railroad at 
Tangipahoa. Returning from Baton Rouge 
after the battle there, August 5, the troops 
marched back to the railroad at Tangi- 
pahoa, and there took the train for Jack- 
son August 28, where they arrived at 8 
o'clock that evening. The command left 
Jackson by rail Thursday, September 11, 
under orders to report to Gen. Yillipigue at 
Holly Springs, or beyond there, if he has 
gone farther, until Gen. Breckenridge shall 
arrive, and it goes on to Davis's Mills, a short 
distance from the Tennessee state line below 
La Grange, Tenn. Here we remained until 
September 27, except that we chased the 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 117 

Yankees pretty mneli all clay September 21, 
running them into their fortifications at Bol- 
ivar, and returning to camp the next even- 
ing. The rascals had gone out on a foraging 
expedition, stealing what they could from cit- 
izens, and we were trying to intercept them 
before they got back into their holes. Leav- 
ing Davis's Mills Saturday, September 27, the 
command marciied toward Ripley, and pass- 
ing there we went on and on until we struck 
the enemy in their outer works at Cornith, 
October 3. After the engagement of the next 
day a second reti'eat from Cornith was begun 
in the evening, and the Confederate forces 
were marched back to Holly Springs, thence 
to the mouth of Tippah, where we remained 
until ISTovember 30. From the mouth of Tip- 
pah we began a hurried retreat Sunday even- 
ing, I^ovember 30, at 8 o'clock, and continued 
this movement nntil we reached Grenada, the 
Sunda}^ following, having been several times 
hindered by the pursuing Yankees, whose 
pursuit we must pause to check. January 31, 
1863, we went on the train from Grenada to 
Jackson, where we remained until February 



118 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

llj when we began onr march to Edwards' 
Depot, on or near Big Black River, and abont 
fifteen miles west of Yicksbnrg. From here 
we started on the train, February 23, for Port 
Hudson, via Jackson, reaching Osyka the 
next evening, where we quit the train and 
marched on to Port Hudson. We arrived at 
Port Hudson March 3, and left there April 
5; and marching back to Osyka, we went 
from there on the train to Jackson, xVpril 10. 
April 14 we took the train at Jackson for 
Tullahoma, Tenn., and reached Chattanooga 
April 18 at 6 o'clock in the evening, where 
the order was countermanded, and we were 
started the next day back to Jackson. 
Upon reaching Meridian, Miss., the night 
of April 23, we heard that the Yankees were 
making demonstrations of some kind in this 
region, and we remained here a few days to 
see after them. In the meanwhile a por- 
tion of the command, the Thirty-fifth 
Alabama Regiment first, was sent down on 
the train to Enterprise to head off Grierson's 
Yankee raiders, and returned to Meridian. 
From here the command resumed its return 



cox FEDERATE ECHOES. 119 

trip to Jackson May 3, and readied there 
the next day. May 5 we went out on the 
train to Edwards' Depot. Much marching 
was done, and in many directions, vvith many 
stops also, in the Big Black region, so to 
speak, until the command was engaged in the 
battle of Baker's Creek, May 16, 1863. 
Late that evening, Clen. Loring, our division 
commander, declining to put his command 
in a trap at Vicksburg with the rest of Pem- 
berton's army, took us in a southeast direc- 
tion, and around by Crystal Springs, to pre- 
vent being captured, up to Jackson, to report 
to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, who was said 
to be near Canton with two divisions of the 
Tennessee army. We went up to Canton on 
the train May 31, and June 5 the entire com- 
mand, then under Gen. Johnston, started on 
foot toward Yicksburg, in the hope, it is 
understood, of making a way of escape for 
Pemberton's army, now shut in there by 
Grant's Yankees. Again there was much 
marching and camping and maneuvering in 
the Big Black and adjacent regions, imtil 
Vicksburg fell, and our army retired to 



120 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

Jackson. Here there was almost constant 
fighting, on one part or another of the line, 
from July 9 to July 16. At 11 o'clock 
the night of July 16 we were waked up, 
those who were asleep, in a whisper, and 
began a noiseless eastward march along the 
line of the Southern railroad. Very soon, 
however, w^e began to make long stops, halt- 
ing mainly at Forest Station, Newton, and 
Morton. From Morton, where there were so 
many flies that we called it '' Camp Fly," we 
started back on foot to Canton at sundown, 
September 3, making a most disagreeable 
night march through rain and mud and 
Egyptian darkness, and reached there Oc- 
tober 2. We went on the train to Grena- 
da October 16 to check a Yankee raid, and 
returned to Canton the next day. The day 
following we marched down on Big Black 
to check another raid, and remained over one 
night, when we again returned to our camp 
at Canton. February 5, 1861, we left Can- 
ton, and after making a zigzag southw^ard 
and eastward confusing march for a few 
days, we went forward to Demopolis, Ala., 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 121 

not without interruptions now and then by 
the detestable Yankees, and reached there 
February 18. From here, March 4, the 
Twenty-seventh and Thirty-fifth Alabama 
Kegiments, having received orders to go to 
North Alabama for recruiting purposes, 
took up the line of march for the Ten- 
nessee Kiver valley in that section of the 
state, their route being through Tuscaloosa 
and other towns aloug that way. From 
N^orth Alabama these regiments were or- 
dered to Dalton, Ga., to meet again the army 
which they left at Demopolis, except some 
that were there mounted, and to become in- 
corporated into the Army of Tennessee under 
Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. The Sherman- 
Johnston war here set in, and the Confed- 
erates fought and backed, and backed and 
fought, until Atlanta was lost. Then, having 
camped awhile at Palmetto Station, and hav- 
ing been reviewed by President Davis, they 
began their march for Tennessee under Hood 
September 29, 1864. Crossing the Tennessee 
Kiver at Florence, Ala., after long marches 
and several minor engagements with Yankee 



122 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

garrisons, they Avent on to the slaughter at 
Franklin and at Nashville. Out of Tennes- 
see retreated the fragments of as grand an 
army as was ever marshaled on any field of 
battle, and marching across one corner of 
^orth Alabama, they went on to West 
Point, Miss. Remaining there but a few days, 
they took the train for Mobile February 1, 
1865, reaching there the next morning. The 
day following they went on a boat to Tensas 
Depot, where they took the train for Mont- 
gomery, and from there onward, until they 
reached Midway, Cla., near Milledgeville, 
February 7, where the railroad gave out. 
Here they began their march at 2 o'clock 
the afternoon of February 11 for Ma3^field, 
where they again took the train, February 11, 
for Graniteville, S. C, by way of Augusta. 
Leaving there February 16, they passed 
through JSTewberry, and having gone a day's 
march beyond this place they return to it and 
there took the train to Pomara. From there 
they marched through Union C. H., and on to 
Chesterville, where they again took the train, 
and passing through Charlotte, Salisbuiy, 



confp:dekate echoes. 123 

Greensboro, Raleigh, and Goldsboro, they 
reached Kinston, on JN^eiise River, at noon, 
March 9. Here they quit the train with the 
utmost promptness and marched forward 
four miles to the front, where they took their 
position on the line with the army already 
there, to engage at once, and until after 
night, in a heavy skirmish with the Yankees. 
The next day an assault was made on the 
enemy's works without carrying them by the 
Tennessee troops, with considerable sufier- 
ing on our part, for the purpose, we were tohl, 
of diverting their attention from Hoke's Di- 
vision, which was in danger of being cap- 
tured by them. It seemed that Gen. Hoke 
had undertaken to make a flank movement 
on the enemy, whicli Avas about to issue in 
the loss of his division. March 10 the army 
retired from the front after dark to one mile 
above Kinston, and the next morning it was on 
the march regularly, and fell back through 
Goldsboro and on to Smithfield. Saturday, 
March 18, leaving Smithfield, they took a 
southeast course, and after marching about fif- 
teen miles, went into camp near Bentonville; 



121 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

and the next day, having gone about two 
miles forward, they encountered the enemy, 
and the battle of Bentonville was fought, in 
which the Confederates were eminently vic- 
torious. After this battle, and on the night 
of March 21, our army fell back a short dis- 
tance toward Smithfield, and the next day 
began a leisurely retreat in the same direc- 
tion. Back and back it slowly moved, tak- 
ing time along the route to rest, consolidate, 
etc., until Greensboro was reached, where it 
w^as surrendered to Sherman April 26, 1865. 
A few da3\s before the army reached 
Greensboro I procured a transfer to the 
Trans-Mississippi Department, and started 
there from Hillsboro; so that I was not sur- 
rendered with the others of the command 
with which I had heretofore been connected. 
I reached Meridian, Miss., May 9,- where I 
first learned positively of our overthrow, and 
so determined to turn my face toward home. 
Yankee oflBcers were there giving paroles, but 
I went on to N'orth Alabama, and on May 20 
I rode from Uncle Kobert A. Goodloe's down 
to East Port, on the Tennessee Kiver, and 



COXFEDEHATE ECHOES. 125 

just across the line from Alabama into Mis- 
sissippi, and there got ray parole. In mak- 
ing application for admission into the John 
L. McEwen Bivouac, No. 4, at Franklin, 
Tenn., in 1890, 1 stated that I was paroled at 
Meridian, remembering at the time that the 
Yankees were there giving paroles when I 
reached there May 9, and forgetting that I 
had gone to East Port to procure one. May 
25, 1865, 1 reached ray home in Wilson Coun- 
ty, Tennessee, ray family having icturned 
there after finding that it was as safe to do 
so as it was to remain in North Alabama. 

My route to Meridian, where I expected 
to find out the best place to cross the Mis- 
sissippi River, was out of North Carolina into 
South Carolina, and on to Augusta, Ga. 
From there I went to Atlanta, and then across 
Alabama in as direct a line as I could go for 
safety, and with an eye to as much railroad 
traveling as possible. Much track was torn 
up in places by Yankee raiders, and many 
bridges were burned, but I got a good deal 
of riding on disconnected pieces of road here 
and there, sometimes on a hand car and 



126 CON^T'EDERATE ECHOES. 

sometimes on the train; I had, however, 315 
miles of walking to do. From Meridian I 
went up on the train to Luhatten Station, 
near Rev. Simon Sykes's plantation, where 
I had a horse, which I rode home, crossing 
the Tennessee River at Florence and taking 
the most direct route from there. 

That portion of the army surrendered at 
Greensboro, which had been in the Georgia 
and Tennessee campaigns, first under John- 
ston, and then under Hood, was an exceed- 
ingly diminutive fragment of that once su- 
perb army which had been, while under 
Johnston in Georgia, the terror and admira- 
tion of Yaukee Gen. Sherman, who, though 
gradually pushing it back toward Atlanta 
by a much larger army, saw but too plainly 
for his own comfort and that of his govern- 
ment that his forces were being: constantly 
worsted, and that it was only a question of 
time when Johnston with his gallant Confed- 
erates would hurl him hurriedly back over 
the road of his invasion, or demolish him al- 
together. In the consolidation which was 
made a short time before the surrender it 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 127 

was shown that there were not men enough 
left in some regiments to make a full com- 
pany, or indeed half a company in some in- 
stances; and there were companies in which 
scarcely a "corporal's guard" was left, and 
some had entirely vanished. Of my own 
company there remained but two or three 
men besides myself, and indeed part of the 
time in that last North Carolina campaign I 
was entirely alone. When the army was con- 
solidated there was quite a number of officers 
left without commands, and being myself 
of that number, I thought to transfer to the 
Trans-Mississippi Department, in the hope 
that the Western army, by being strength- 
ened, could withstand the invaders until 
our prospects for freedom would brighten. 
Indeed, I had an idea then that instead of 
surrendering the army in Xorth Carolina, it 
should have been carried westward, if possi- 
ble; and if not possible, that it should have 
been disbanded with orders for each soldier 
to make his way as best he could to one of 
the Western armies. But '' Uncle Joe " 
(Gen. Johnston) said surrender, and of 



128 CON^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

course that was the right thing to do under 
the circumstances as they then were. Any 
army begins to lessen in the very nature of 
things from the time almost of its enlist- 
ment, unless it is constantly recruited, owing 
to the unavoidable casualties, from man}' 
causes, incident to warfare; but when one 
has to pass through what ours did under 
Hood the decrease in numbers cannot but be 
rapid and immense. 

There would, however, have been more 
men with our army after Hood brought it out 
of Tennessee had it not been for its speedy 
removal by railroad from IN'orth Mississippi, 
where it paused awhile, over the long route 
it had then to take to reach Eastern ^North 
Carolina, making it next to impossible for 
the soldiers that were behind to overtake it 
soon, the interruptions to transportation be- 
ing very great in those days. It was un- 
avoidable that many were left behind, and 
they were as true men as those that went for- 
ward. Besides those that were wounded, 
many were compelled by sickness to drop 
out of line for the time being, having suffered 



COXPEDERATE ECHOES. 129 

great exposure in severe weather while in 
Tennessee; weariness from nnnsually hard 
service on the field and on the march had ex- 
hausted the strength of some, so that the}- 
were compelled to pause and rest wherever 
they could; bai'efooted and ragged were not 
a few of our best warriors in the winter 
winds and snows, and they must go out of line 
to hunt up clothing and shoes, which the quar- 
termasters had not to give them; and finally, 
there were those whose spirits were just then 
broken in a measure by the conspicuously 
reckless and suicidal policy of Gen. Hood, in 
whom they had lost all confidence, in his 
methods of conducting campaigns and wag- 
ing battle, who determined to call a halt un- 
til a change in the conduct of army affairs 
should take place of such a nature as to en- 
courage again their hope, however faint, of 
success. True men, all of them, I repeat, 
and worthy to the last of the gray that they 
wore. 

It was indeed the ruin of the Army of Ten- 
nessee when President Davis put Gen. Hood 
in command of it as the successor, and after 



130 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the removal without cause, of Geu. Joseph 
E. Johuston, the best of all the Coufederate 
generals in our estimation. A gloom came 
over us when that change of commanders 
was made, which foretokened the ruin that 
was to follow. At sundown, July 18, 1864, 
while on the line in front of Atlanta, we re- 
ceived Johnston's farewell note and the an- 
nouncement that Hood was his successor, and 
we were like those who had lost their father. 
"Boys, we are orphans now," was the lam- 
entation that was upon the lips of us all, 
as we collected in groups around our camp 
fires that night to talk of the misfortune 
that had befallen us. Our admiration for 
Hood was without bounds while in the po- 
sitions he had formerly occupied, but it was 
impossible for us to hold him in the honor 
which may have been his due when he suf- 
fered himself to be made a seeming party to 
the injustice done his predecessor by Presi- 
dent Davis, and to be placed in a position, at 
a most critical moment, whicli Johnston was 
the only officer in the army capable of filling. 
We were in the midst of one of the most 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 131 

magnificent campaigns ever conducted by 
any general, the fruits of which we were in 
the act of grasping, when the strange and de- 
pressing tidings reached us that the master 
spirit who so grandly and effectively con- 
ducted it must be removed, and his place 
be filled by one who, though a good man, 
could not possibly compass intelligently the 
situation in all its details and merits at such 
a juncture as then existed. ]^ot only did we 
feel like orphans then, but it took much ef- 
fort to shake loose from the despondency 
which crowded itself upon us in regard to 
the final outcome of our struggle for inde- 
pendence. Hood's long l)attle order issued 
upon his taking command, in which he 
aimed to stir us up to unusual exhibitions of 
courage, and to impress us (so it seemed) 
that he was the man for the occasion, did not 
improve our feelings, nor inspire us with 
hope for the success of his method of war- 
fare therein indicated. All fell into line, 
however, at his command, and engaged with 
all their might, in all the departments of duty, 
in the campaign which he conducted until 



132 CONPEDEKATE ECHOES. 

its terrible miscarriage at Franklin and 
l^ashville. 

Those who are acquainted with army af- 
fairs in the days of the Confederacy know 
perfectly well that the ai'my as it was under 
Johnston, prior to his being superseded by 
Hood, was in the most buoyant of spirits, 
happy, hopeful, and confident of ultimate 
success; and the troops heartily believed 
that they could whip Sherman's Yankees in 
an open field fight. They were falling back 
by degrees, but they knew that that meant 
disaster to Sherman sooner or later, and they 
were whipping him in detail, by corps and 
divisions, every time they joined -battle with 
him. Instead of our meu becomi ug weary 
of the campaign, they were more and more 
interested in it, and an improvement was 
going on in the army all the time. Soldiers 
who were absent on account of wounds, sick- 
ness, or other cause were hurrying to the 
front as soon as they were able to do so, thus 
keeping our ranks well filled up and in- 
creasing in numbers. 

Johnston was restored to command just 



COlSrrEDERATE ECHOES. 133 

before the battle of Bentonville, but he had 
then only a few fragments of his old army, and 
it was too late for him to build it up to any 
formidable proportions. The troops that re- 
mained were rejoiced beyond measure at his 
return to them, and had the good fortune, un- 
der his leadership, to give Sherman's Yan- 
kees, whom they had whipped so often in 
Georgia, one more effectual beating, over in 
North Carolina, before the curtain fell. 
Had not the end been so near at hand, John- 
ston would have built up another formidable 
army before a great while. But the end had 
come, alas! alas! 

I kept my parole while it served me pro- 
tection from the victorious and vicious 
Yankees, and then I burned it to pre- 
vent my posterity from having this evidence 
that I had surrendered to the invaders of our 
Southland. Indeed, I would not have sur- 
rendered if I had been without a fomily, and 
if I had been able to have reached some 
other country. Any government on earth 
was preferable with me to Yankee rule then. 
Quite a number of Confederates did go to 



134 COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 

other countries rather than surrender; and 
although most of them, I suppose, returned 
sooner or later, there were some who re- 
mained permanently abroad. The sense of 
humiliation and disgust that was experienced 
by the surrendered Confederates cannot be 
uttered. The thought of laying down our 
arms, which had enabled us so long to bid 
defiance to the despicable invaders, \vith tlio 
prospect of hereafter having to submit to 
their dictation in all governmental affairs, 
was oppressive in the extreme. 

Though passing through such experiences 
as these as he gave up an undertaking which 
was dearer to him than life, the Confederate 
soldier, nevertheless, maintained unflagging- 
ly to the last his self-respect and pride of 
character. His nobility was never surren- 
dered. Although overcome and disappoint- 
ed and gloomy, his convictions and man- 
hood remained. This infuriated, and still 
does, the great mass of our enemies, whose 
business it was, and is, to stamp out of us 
every vestige of freedom. Though still in 
pursuit of us with their hellish anathemas. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 135 

the true ex-Confederate, ^Yith majestic bear- 
ing, goes steadily forward in the persistent 
maintenance of his unsullied manhood. 

As touching our feelings when the neces- 
sity of surrender was made known to us, the 
following composition of a Missouri sol- 
dier, which was given me by Miss Mary 
Cherry just after the war, gives expression, 
in its allusions to the Yankees and our con- 
dition, to the sentiments that obtained in all 
our breasts: 

A Missoueian's Feelings before the Surbender. 

Who cau portray the deep disgust 

Missourians feel on being told 
To trail their banner in the dust, 

Lay down their arms, and be paroled. 

Yield to the Yankees ! O the thought 

Thrills madly through my 'vvildered brain ! 

Give up the cause for which we've fought, 
And humbly be base slaves again. 

March backward through this land of flowers, 
All dotted o'er with bloody graves. 

Again to seek our Western bowers. 
And tell our mothers we are slaves. 



136 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

Thank God, my father docs not live 
To witness thus his son's return: 

'Twould cause his proud old heart to grieve, 
His aged cheeks with shame to burn. 

He sleeps within his native state, 

Where Stonewall Jackson wrote his name, 

Where Robert Lee succumbed to fate, 
But kept his honor and his fame. 

My mother's locks with grief are gray. 
And mine are too with toil and strife; 

I go to smooth as best I may 

Her pathway down the hill of life. 

I know she'll cheer me all she can. 
And say now all regrets are vain, 

But can I smile while Dixie's land 

Groans 'neath the despot's iron chain? 

Dear land of sunshine and of flowers, 
We yet would gladly die for thee, 

If this last bloody act of ours 
Could make thy noble people free. 

We to our trust have e'er been true, 
We've fought on every battlefield. 

We've done what brave men ever do, 
And now, perforce, we can but yield. 

To-morrow's sun that lights the world 
And gilds old ocean's rolling waves 



COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 137 

Will beam on Yankee flags unfurled 
Above surrendered Southern braves. 

In this dark hour, when hope's last ray 
Has sunk 'neath sorrow's gloomy wave, 

Come, comrades, let us kneel and pray 
Beside our nation's honored grave. 

We'll weep as the survivors weep 
Of a wrecked bark that's homeward bound, 

Who feel 'tis wrong that they don't sleep 
In the same grave their bark has found. 

'Tis hard to leave this land of flowers, 

For which we've fought for these long years, 

How dark appear life's coming hours, 

When hearts and hopes are drowned in tears! 

I now must yield to Yankee laws, 

Yet this shall be my life's proud boast: 

I gave my best years to the cause 
That I love yet, although 'tis lost. 

But was it not best for ns and our poster- 
ity that we failed in the permanent establish- 
ment of our Confederacy? If the Lord 
willed it thus, it was best, but the divine 
ordering is not always comprehended by our 
dull understanding. We buried all hope of a 
Confederacy when we ceased to fight for it, 



138 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

knowing full well that our opportunity for 
its establishment was forever lost, but we 
did not believe that we had bettered our con- 
dition when we turned over our guns to the 
Lincoln government; and what has trans- 
pired since that gloomy day to induce us to 
undergo a change of mind on that subject? 
As to the effect that slavery would ulti- 
mately have had in weakening the Southern 
Confederacy need not enter into our con- 
templations, inasmuch as ours was a land of 
statesmen, as well as of soldiers, fiiUy capa- 
ble, in the course of time, of solving that 
question, perhaps by the gradual emancipa- 
tion of the slaves by the government, and 
paying their owners for them. But we ac- 
cept the situation, and are Vvilling that by- 
gones shall be bygones, if only the Radicals 
of the ^N'orth will let it be thus. 




"squad NUMBEK one," at MEMPHIS REUNION, 1901. 



John W. Crunk. William H. Farmer. H. Clay Mnrphey. 
A. T. Goodloe. John M. Martin. 



CHAPTER YIIL 



Gen. Joseph E. Johnston — Hood — -Davis — "Speech- 
es and Soldiers " — Grierson's Raid, Etc. 

WE confidently believed that the death of 
Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston on the 
field of vShiloh was one of the few potent fac- 
tors in the loss of our independence as a na- 
tion, but we regarded the removal of Gen. 
Joseph E. Johnston from the command of 
the department and army of Tennessee, and 
the appointment of Hood as his successor, as 
the prime cause of our overthrow. We were 
sure that if he had been left in command 
x\be Lincoln would have soon called off" his 
war dogs. And it was understood among 
the soldiers that President Davis was re- 
sponsible for his removal. We also believed 
that he knew perfectly well, and sanctioned, 
the campaign upon which Hood entered when 
he came into conniiand upon Johnston's re- 
moval. He came to our army after the re- 

(139) 



140 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

moval of Johnston, and reviewed it in con- 
nection with Hood as we were about to begin 
our march toward Tennessee. We easily 
presumed that he was there at that particular 
time to assist in planning aud otherwise ar- 
ranging for that campaign; and he got no 
praise from the soldiers that I heard for be- 
ing with us on that occasion for such a pur- 
pose. His presence inspired no enthusiasm 
in the army, speaking from my standpoint, 
and what cheers greeted him as he galloped 
along the road on the side of which, and 
fronting it, we stood, were mainly from res- 
pect to him as the head of our government. 
As he passed along many soldiers called out 
to him: " Take away Hood, and give us back 
Johnston! " 

Mr. Davis may have been greatly wronged 
by many of the soldiers, but there was a 
W'ide-spread impression among them in those 
days that he was not the man for the place 
he occupied in the stormy years of our na- 
tional existence; and, holding him respon- 
sible for the removal of Johnston in front of 
Atlanta, they held him responsible for our 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 141 

downfall; since we believed that the ruin of 
our army under Hood destroyed our possibili- 
ty of freedom. He was, we may say, unani- 
mously elected President by the Southern 
people of our Confederate States of America; 
and at the time of the election all confided 
in him implicitly as a competent leader in 
the great emergency which was upon us; but 
it developed to the satisfaction of a great 
many, long before the war ended, that we had 
not found the man to head so gigantic and 
hazardous an enterprise as the one we were 
then engaged in. We regarded him as a 
great man in statesmanship and courage, and 
remembered that he had given to our armies 
some of the finest military chieftains that the 
world ever knew; but his war policy we re- 
garded as mistaken, and we were made to 
believe that at times his prejudices rather 
than his judgment controlled him in the re- 
moval and appointment of army officers. 
There were a number of officers who were 
pretty generally denominated "Davis's 
pets," and some whom, it was understood, 
he had a personal dislike for. His love for 



142 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

and devotion to the Southern Confederacy 
was never called in question by any one, and 
his readiness to pnt forth his mightiest ener- 
gies for its support could not be doubted in 
any quarter. 

Davis could not endure the thought of a 
Confederate army, however small, retiring 
before a Yankee army, however large. He 
believed that a handful of Rebels ought to 
whip a field full of Yankees whenever a 
chance to fight was offered. Surrender and 
retreat were not words to be found in his 
vocabulary, and it never occurred to him 
until he was captured that the Southern Con- 
federacy would not endure. That he believed 
that something would occur, even in the very 
^ast moments, to save us from the fall which 
"was then so manifestly imminent to a great 
many was evidenced by his own statements. 
His retreat from Richmond, the capital of our 
Confederacy^; the surrender of Lee; and the 
certainty of Johnston's early capitulation 
did not destroy his hope of the final triumph 
of the Confederate arms. 1 saw him April 
17, 1865j as he and his family were crossing 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 143 

the long bridge over the Yadkin Kiver, 
N'orth Carolina. I was lying down resting 
by the side of the railroad near the west end 
of the bridge as he came walking on the 
bridge, his horse being led by a private sol- 
dier. It was a railroad bridge which had 
been floored for carrying over hoi-ses and 
wagons; the horses being loosed from the 
wagons and led over, and the wagons being 
pulled and pushed over by men. Mr. Davis 
stopped and received his horse from the sol- 
dier who had led him over in a few feet of 
where I was lying. Aftei- thanking the sol- 
dier for his kindness in a most hearty and 
gentlemanly manner, and seeming almost to 
apologize to him for trying to make his es- 
cape from the Yankees, he said : " I expect to 
be retracing my steps when you see me 
again, and it will not be long until I do so." 
Mr. Davis then went on to Charlotte, and 
made a speech to some of the citizens of that 
town, in which he said that we could hold out 
five more years against the Yankees. That 
was April 19, 1865. I did not hear the 
speech, but 1 was in Charlotte when it was 



IM CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

made, and I received my information from 
perfectly reliable parties who did hear it. I 
think it was only a hasty speech of a few 
words made to a rather small company that 
gathered aroand him as he rode into town. 
The gentleman at whose house I had stopped 
to have my rations cooked was present, and 
he came back home greatly pleased that our 
resources w^ere so much more abundant than 
he had supposed until he heard what Mr. 
Davis said. 

Hopeful to the last, it would seem, was 
our chieftain of the permanenc}^ of our gov- 
ernment, and yet hoping without hope in 
these expiring moments of its existence. 
But these statements of his have a strange 
sound taken in connection with the fact that 
he had but a few days before their utterance 
authorized Gen. Johnston to make what 
terms he could for the termination of the 
war, they having had a meeting at Greens- 
boro, where I saw Mr. Davis April 15 riding 
along the street in company with Gen. 
Breckenridge. While as President of our 
Confederacy and commander in chief of our 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 145 

armies he Avas in tlie best possible position 
to know our real condition, which he indeed 
recognized as hopeless, yet he seemed to be 
possessed of a kind of desperation of hope in 
the face of inevitable ruin. 

For a long time before the war ended Mr. 
Davis had gotten the credit, though unjust- 
ly it may be, among the soldiers for sending 
abroad messages of hope to encourage them 
to endurance and courage when there was no 
sufficient ground always for such messages. 
"Kews from Kichmond," which was under- 
stood to be news from the President, was 
continually coming into camp to the ejffect 
that our disabilities of one sort and another 
were about to be removed, and our speedy 
triumph accomplished. As our troubles ac- 
cumulated and our condition became more 
embarrassing these blessed tidings came 
more frequently to us, freighted with hope 
and cheer to those who believed them. For 
awhile they were very inspiring to us all, but 
as disappointment after disappointment came 
to us on account of not witnessing their reali- 
zation they became decidedly monotonous and 
10 



1-16 COXFEDEIIATE ECHOES. 

a subject of jest and ridicule. They most 
frequently had reference to the interposition 
in one way or another of foreign powers in 
our behalf, a great fleet of Confedei-ato gun- 
l)oats on the high seas, the breaking of the 
blockade of our ports, an uprising of South- 
ern sympathizers in the Korth, etc. Mr. 
Davis having gotten the credit among us, 
which seemed to be pretty general, of giving 
these items of news to the army, it was con- 
jectured that he had acquired the habit of 
seeing and speaking only of the hopeful in- 
dications that presented themselves to his 
mind, and that this is the explanation of his 
final utterances of hope. 

It is not intended to convey the idea that 
Mr. Davis, the soul of honor and of undispu- 
ted integrity, was a fabricator of rumoi's for 
helping forward the patiiotism and chivalry 
of the army, but only to give, as army relics, 
such facts and impressions as came to us 
who were at the front. Mr. Davis may have 
had nothing to do with sending out these 
helpful reports to the soldiers, but many 
thought he did, and spoke freely of it. "I 



COl^rEDEKATE ECHOES. 147 

can fight the Yankees just as well, and a lit- 
tle better, without so much rallying in the 
way of flattering prospects which never ma- 
terialize, than with it," was a sentiment 
which often found expression. It is to be 
taken for granted that those reports that re- 
lated to our recognition by foreign powers, 
as well also as that of the blockade being- 
broken, etc., were well founded, as our gov- 
ernment was carrying on, all the while, ne- 
gotiations with other governments, and the 
indications frequently were that so and so 
would come to pass which did not; but it 
was a great mistake to trumpet abroad what 
had not matured, and what, therefore, ought 
to have been kept strictly secret by the au- 
thorities of our government until the results 
desired had come to pass. Whatever may 
have been the real state of the case in regard 
to these matters, it was a great pity that the 
soldiers, if in error, were not made acquaint- 
ed with the facts, if there was any way that 
it coiild be done. 

Just here I will insert a report which, as 
chairman of the Historical Committee, I 



14S COXPEDERATE ECHOES. 

made to the John L. McEwen Bivouac, !N"o. 
4,, Franklin, Tenn., in 1891, and which was 
headed " Speeches and Soldiers : " 

April 25, 1863, Gen. Loring's division 
was at Meridian, Miss., where it had paused 
a little on the return trip from Chattanooga, 
Tenn., to Jackson, Miss., Big Black, etc. 
We had recently been to Port Hudson, La., 
and were ordered from there to Tullahoma, 
Tenn.; but on reaching Chattanooga we re- 
ceived orders to return to Mississippi. About 
9 o'clock A.M. of the above date we received 
information tliat Grierson's Yankee cavalry 
were approaching Enterprise, on the Mo- 
bile and Ohio railroad, a short distance below 
Meridian, where there were government 
stores, railroad shops, etc. At once the Thir- 
ty-fifth Alabama Regiment was commanded 
to load guns and board the train for Enter- 
prise, expecting possibly to be attacked on 
the route, but hoping to get there before Gri- 
erson did. We beat him there, and, leaping 
instantly from the train, we double-quicked 
down a dirt road to a bridge near the town, 
which Grierson was also briskly approaching. 



COIs'FEDEIlATE ECHOES. l49 

but which we reached first. Col. Goodwin 
then commanded our regiment, and placed it 
in a good position to do much hurt to the Yan- 
kee raiders; but Grierson played off a ras- 
cally trick on him, and so made his escape. 
Grierson did not know we were there until 
we were just ready to "bag" him; and, see- 
ing his imminent peril, threw up his white 
handkerchief as a flag of truce and asked for 
a parley with our colonel. The trick was 
but too palpable, and ought not to have been 
submitted to by Col. Goodwin; but the par- 
ley was allowed, and while it was going on, 
Grierson took in the situation more fully, 
and slipped his men out of the trap into 
which most of them had come. The trick- 
ster put on a bold face and demanded the sur- 
render of the place; to which Col. Goodwin 
replied, asking two hours for consideration 
and the removal of women and children. 
Grierson was only too well pleased to accom- 
modate our colonel, and use those two hours 
for the furtherance of his own safety. The 
Twelfth Louisiana and Seventh Kentucky 
Kegiments were expected on the next train 



150 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

to re-enforce our regiment, but when they ar- 
rived the Yankee horsemen, who could gal- 
lop heroically ( ! ) through an unprotected 
country, and call it a '^ great raid," had put 
themselves out of our reach. 

Having thus lost the opportunity to " bag 
our game," an army expression frequently 
used, we were put in chase after it, only to 
wear us down with fatigue and sore feet, for 
the Yankees were mounted and we were on 
foot; albeit they were pretending to make a 
stand every now and then, which we were ex- 
ceedingly anxious for them to do. We 
slept on our guns that night, not knowing 
but that we might need them before day; and 
all through the next day and until midnight 
following we were receiving information that 
Grierson was still hanging around, bent on 
capturing Enterprise, which made it neces- 
sary for us to be in motion and on the look- 
out all the time. It was indeed a very tire- 
some expedition in which we were engaged, 
and not until the night of April 28 did we 
quiet down and retire to our pallets for an 
undisturbed sleep. But just as the command 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 151 

were all soundly asleep, we were suddenly 
called up and ordered to "fall in." By thus 
being aroused at night and put in readiness 
for marching, we had no other thought than 
that the enemy were near at hand, and in a 
moment w^e were in line; but to our utter 
amazement and displeasure our colonel in- 
formed us that we were called up to hear a 
speech from Gen. Keuben Davis, a near 
kinsman of the President, who was at the 
hotel in Enterprise. 

Col. Goodwin was a brave, good soldier, 
but his tastes were more literary than milita- 
ry. He was a polished gentleman and high- 
ly educated, and had made considerable char- 
acter as a writer. He expected a rare treat 
in hearing the speech of Gen. Davis, and 
supposed that we would thank him for afford- 
ing us the opportunity of hearing so distin- 
guished a speaker. 

Before leaving camp for the hotel where 
Davis was, which was not more than half a 
mile. Col. Goodwin posted us in all the 
points of good manners on such occasions, 
when and how we should call for Davis, 



152 COXrEDEKATE ECHOES. 

etc. He admonished us very carefully that 
everything must be done decently and in or- 
der, so that Keuben, of the house of Davis, 
would not only recognize us as soldiers, but 
as gentlemen also. He let ns know what or- 
ders he would give and what would be our 
position on the open space in front of the 
hotel, indicating also the maneuvers through 
which we would be carried before the final 
"Halt!" Upon halting he would give the 
command "Order arms!" whereupon he 
would call out immediately, " Davis! Davis! " 
and we were to take up the call at once, 
"Davis! Davis! Davis!" with a full chorus 
of voices. 

All went well with the Cololiel until our 
time came to call for Davis. Some of us did 
as we were instructed, but others began to 
yell: "Come out of there, Reuben; I know 
you are in there! " " Get through as quick 
as you can," said others; "we are all 
mighty sleepy." This seemed to annoy our 
colonel, but Davis appeared on one of the 
hotel balconies, and made his speech, which 
was mainly made up of compliments to us 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 153 

and good news from Richmond. This " good 
news from Kichmond" business in regard to 
our recognition by foreign powers, breaking 
the blockade, etc., had become quite monoto- 
nous to the soldiers, and excited but little in- 
terest among them; and when Davis touched 
on those things a voice from the regiment 
cried out: " Tell us something new. General." 
He told us, if I remember right, that France 
had certainly espoused our cause, and that a 
large fleet of French gunboats was nearing 
our shores to open every port of oui-s and 
demolish Yankee vessels. " Those are aw- 
ful slow boats, General; they have been on 
the way here ever since the war began, to my 
certain knowledge," shouted a voice from the 
regiment. It seemed evident that Col. Good- 
win and Gen. Davis became weary of the 
performance; the speech soon came to an 
end, and we were marched back to our camp 
to do what sleeping we could till morning, 
to our unspeakable relief. 

While near Demopolis, Ala., March 3, 
1864, our (Buford's) brigade w^as marched 
out into an old field to hear a speech of Avel- 



154 CONFEDEHATE ECHOES. 

come from Gov. Watts, of Alabama, into 
whose state we had just come. We were 
formally introduced to him by Gen. Buford 
as he was ready to begin his speech. " How- 
dy, Governor; how are all your folks? " was 
the greeting which a number of voices gave 
him. It was indeed an eloquent speech that 
he gave us, and well suited to the occasion. 
He poured forth great torrents of eloquence, 
heroism and chivalry, as he tiptoed in his 
stirrups, for he spoke on horseback; having, 
however, at first extended to us a beautiful 
welcome into his state. The more he spoke, 
the braver he seemed to become; and it was 
only too plain that his speech was moving 
himself more than his audience. In order 
to incite us to transcendent feats of despera- 
tion on the field of battle, he spoke of an in- 
cident which occurred in another depart- 
ment of the Confederate army. A daring 
and dashing color bearer was shot down 
in a furious charge; but the flag was in- 
stantly caught up by another soldier and 
waved in defiance of the Yankees, when 
he too received a death shot; then another 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 155 

and another and another did the same thing 
and met the same fate in quick succession, 
until there was no telling how many color 
bearers there were who fell thus in that 
charge, the heroism of whom the Governor 
would have us emulate. " What a set of 
fools those fellows were! " rang out from the 
mouths of several listening privates. And 
" We don't believe in putting our heads in 
Yankee cannons for the fun of having them 
shot out." This, at least, made it appear 
that the Governor's speech, though having 
much merit, was not the thing needed just 
then. These men whom he addressed, in- 
ured to hardships and dangers, had no ear 
for the civilian's bugle note. They were 
then performing a long march, having just 
walked from Canton, Miss., and were weary 
and foot-sore, and they felt that rest was a 
better nervine than a speech, though it be 
from a Governor. Had the enemy been 
near at hand and a battle imminent, a word or 
two from their commander might have been 
appreciated; but no amount of eloquence on 
general principles from one not in arms him- 



156 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

self did them any good. They felt that they 
were already better patriots in the most im- 
portant sense than those, unarmed, who 
would fire their patriotism, endurance, and 
courage. Be it said, however, that Gov. 
Watts made a very fine impression upon the 
brigade, and possibly he did not hear the un- 
appreciative voices that spoke out during the 
delivery of his speech; still there was a prev- 
alent idea that rest was preferable to listen- 
ing to a speech, and that it was out of 
taste for the speaker to undertake to stir np 
the bravery of men whose courage had al- 
ready been abundantly tested. 

At the opening of the war there was much 
and necessary speech making, but when men 
had fully leaiuied war b}^ hard experience, 
about the only speaking necessary were the 
orders from the officers in command to go 
forward in whatever was necessary in the 
defeat of the enemy. And even at the be- 
ginning of hostilities, though there were 
mau}^ soul-inspiring and patriotic appeals in 
the way of orations to bestir men into action 
against the invading foe, there were many 



COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 157 

harangues which were too enthusiastic, if 
possible, and calculated to make us believe 
that war was but a pleasant pastime, a kind 
of holiday recreation, when carried on with 
the Yankees. Xumbers of men, under the 
sudden impulse of daring inspired by these 
speeches of fiery and llighty zealots, and be- 
lieving that it was a mere " breakfast spell " 
to crush out our Yankee haters, rushed hur- 
riedly to the front, only to realize that our war 
was not only not a merry holiday frolic, but a 
most serious and terrific encounter, involv- 
ing hardness of service and untold sufiering 
and slaughter, wdio, being overv, lielnied 
presently with consternation, they had not 
the heart to endure. IS^ot havincr had a 
proper conception of what Avar w as before 
engaging in it, there w^ere many who were 
driven away by its horrors. The speech 
makers of the efi'ervescent kind had told 
them that hunting Yankees was better fun 
than hunting squirrels, and they suddenly 
found, to their uncontrollable dismay, that 
they themselves were being hunted to the 
death. 



158 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

I recall a speech that I heard at McWhir- 
tersville, six miles from ISTashville on the 
Lebanon pike, in 1861, while the " Hermit- 
age Guards," a company of the Twentieth 
Tennessee Regiment, was being formed, in 
which we were told that the whites of the 
Yankees' eyes would be fine targets for Ten- 
nessee marksmen, and that their squirrel 
rifles were as good army guns as they need- 
ed. It was at a time that the state govern- 
ment was calling upon the citizens to furnish 
such guns as they had that could be used for 
army purj^oses, we having gone to war with- 
out anything like a supply of guns. I had 
already furnished a large-bore Sharp's rifle 
and a double-barrel shot gun, which were 
capable of doing good service in good hands, 
but on hearing of the fun there would be in 
drawing a bead on the whites of Yankees' 
eyes, and having a long, small-bore rifle, for- 
merly the property of my father, and which 
he had had made for hunting squirrels with, 
I carried that into Kashville at the earliest 
opportunity and turned it over to the govern- 
ment as an army gun, although I prized it 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 159 

very much as a kind of heirloom. Of coui'se 
I threw away my rifle, it being altogether 
nnsuited for the battlefield. I really sus- 
pected as much at the time, but felt then 
like I wanted to be on the safe side, so far 
as shooting Lincoln's invading Yankees was 
to be carried on, and determined to keep 
back no gun of mine that could possibly be 
used for that purpose; and I did not actual- 
ly know but what this squirrel rifle could be 
of some service in that direction. 



CHAPTER IX. 



Transporting Troops — Some Phases of Army Life 
— Pies for Sale. 

OURS being an infantry command, our 
movements, when not on foot, were by 
such means of transportation as the govern- 
ment would furnish for special emergencies; 
and with the exception of a small amount 
of steamboat travel, we were transported on 
railroads, the approximate extent of which 
has already been indicated. The govern- 
ment would charter for the time being the 
trains and boats that we would travel on. 
Our boat travel was almost altogether be- 
tween Selma and Montgomery, on the Ala- 
bama River; going first up the river from 
Selma to Montgomery, April 16 and 17, 1863, 
on the steamer " Le Grande," and then down 
the river from Montgomery to Selma, April 
21 and 22, on the steanier '^ St. Charles." 
This was on our trip from Jackson to Chat- 
(100) 



CON^FEDERATE ECHOES. 161 

tanooga, and we returned over the same 
route. Only the lower decks of the boats were 
chartered for the soldiers, and they, as at all 
other times, carried with them their own ra- 
tions drawn from the army commissaries. 
Only the officers were allowed to take pas- 
sage in the cabin, and they had to pay the 
steamboat clerk as other passengers do. 
Luckily, and for a rarity, I had the money 
to take cabin passage, which comprehended 
such luxuries as soldiers were not wont to 
enjoy: sitting on a chair, eating at a table, 
and lying on a berth. The noncommis- 
sioned officers and privates, called the " men," 
were commanded to stay on the lower deck, 
but they soon gave no heed to the order, and 
made themselves free and easy in all parts of 
the boat, and those who had the money to 
pay for meals would do so, and sit with the 
regular passengers at the dinner table. The 
officers and men were too intimately associ- 
ated in the hardships of army life, and too 
much identified in their feelings, for an order 
like this to have permanent force, which, in- 
deed, meant no more than tliat the govern- 
11 



162 COJfl^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

ment had only contracted for our transpor- 
tation on deck. 

These two steamboat rides on the Alabama 
River were quite refreshing to most of us, 
although the men were too much crowded 
for lying down comfortably; altogether, 
however, it was a merr}^ recreation that they 
enjoyed, owing largely to the mode of travel 
varying from what they had been accustomed 
to, and but for the night time spent on the 
river the rides would have been exceedingl}^ 
exhilarating. 

On the same "round trip," so to speak, 
between Jackson and Chattanooga, we were 
transported from McDowell's Station to De- 
mopolis, on the Tombigbee River, and re- 
turned from the latter to the former place on 
the steamer " Marengo; " but that was only a 
ferrying arrangement of four miles distance. 
Also, on our final trip, wh.cn we were going 
from Mississippi to JN^orth Carolina, we were 
taken in a steamer across Mobile Bay and 
up Tensas Bayou to Tensas Station to take 
the train. 

The traveling of soldiers on railroad trains 



CON^FEDERATE ECHOES. 163 

was ill some respects better than the marches 
^\e had to make, but in others it was not, and 
in no sense was it a luxury only insomuch 
as it afforded temporary relief to our feet, 
and an opportunity for seeing the towns and 
people along the route. It was impossible 
to find on any of the roads suflicient trans- 
portation in passenger coaches for a com- 
mand of any considerable size, and so we 
were put to the necessity of taking box and 
open cars, and it was even then needful that 
as many of us get on them as they could pos- 
sibly hold, loading the tops of the box cars 
as well as their inside. We generally had 
but little sitting room on the floors of the 
carS; and never, that I recall, could we all lie 
down at once. As to seats being furnished, 
that was out of the question. If many sol- 
diers were to be transported at one time, a 
number of long trains were loaded, and start- 
ed off in quick succession, one after another, 
just far enough apart to avoid running into 
each other. Frequently in making curves 
in an open country the tortuous movements 
of the whole line of trains, as seen from any 



164 COIirrEDEIlATE ECHOES. 

one of the cars, presented a most picturesque 
appearance, as they wended their way in 
many directions thickly packed w^ith soldiers 
without and within on the box cars, inter- 
mingled with flats on which almost all the 
standing room was occupied. The trains 
w^ere generally in sight of each other whether 
the road was straight or not, except where 
timber obstructed the view, and their move- 
ments were always interesting to look upon. 
By whatever mode of travel our armies 
moved we were always cheered by the citi- 
zens as we passed by residences or through 
towns, but when traveling on the railroads, 
we were enabled, our movements being rapid, 
to see more people and houses and towns, 
than we otherwise could, and we were there- 
fore more fi'equently greeted with the ap- 
plause of citizens than could be the case 
when we were marching through the coun- 
try. The enthusiasm of Southern women for 
the glorious cause for which we fought was 
made conspicuously manifest as we passed 
along, by their bright smiles, the waving of 
their handkerchiefs, and throwing flowers 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 165 

into our midst, and not nnfreqnently wonld 
they liave ready and band out to ns articles 
of clothing and other comibrts. ISTo such 
women ever lived as those of our Southern 
Confederacy; and there was nothing left un- 
done by them, in tlieir sphere, to help for- 
ward our hoped for freedom from the despot- 
ism which threatened us. On the part of 
the soldiers applause answered applause with 
the waving of hats on our part and such 
ringing yells as only a Confederate soldier 
was capable of. Those indeed were glad oc- 
casions; and every cheer we received, espe- 
cially from the women, put new purpose into 
our being to drive back the invading hordes 
if possible. 

Many accidents, necessarily, it might be 
said, occurred with these soldiers' trains; 
but it was sometimes the case, as we then 
believed, that trains were intentionally dis- 
abled or wrecked by parties running them, 
or in some other way connected with them, 
who were in sympathy with the enemy. Still 
it was only occasionally that there was loss 
of life by railroad accidents. On the long 



ibb COjS^FEBEltATE ECHOES. 

trip from West Point, Miss., to Kinston, 
K. C, we several times seemed barely to es- 
cape much destruction of life, but we got 
through without being overtaken by any 
such calamity. Possibly the engineers and 
other train men were all true men, but we 
felt it necessary a time or two to keep very 
close watch on some of them. It was as 
much in order then to wreck a train of sol- 
diers, and thus destroy their lives, as it was 
to kill them in battle, and we knew not but 
that some Yankee emissary might be at hand 
ready to deal out wholesale destruction to us 
in that way, if possible, by bribing trainmen 
or by any other method that he could. Yan- 
kee hate, Yankee ingenuity, and Yankee 
money were ever lavish in the accomplish- 
ment of our ruin, and there were masked 
traitors among us in various places, who were 
the cheap tools of our venomous foes to com- 
pass our overthrow by clandestine and dia- 
bolical means. To these the wrecking of a 
train of Southern soldiers would be a veri- 
table luxury, if only they could escape de- 
tection. These " home-made Yankees," as 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 107 

they were generally called, abounded in 
some places more than in others, and there 
was a contempt for them on the part of the 
Southern patriot which transcended that 
which was felt for the most odious of puri- 
tanical " Down Easters." A typical K^ew 
England Yankee was the supreme object of 
Southern detestation until the "home-made 
Yankee " came into being, and made himself 
worthy of our intenser odium by his capaci- 
ty for lower forms of mischief among us 
than even the abolition intruder from the 
delectable land of wooden nutmegs. Had 
an engineer of one of our soldiers' trains 
been of this complexion it would certainly 
have been wrecked had not the fear of detec- 
tion deterred him from the adventure. 

" Forward, march ! " After the order 
"Fall in!" this was the command oftenest 
received, and on foot was our normal method 
of locomotion. This involved weariness ex- 
treme, and sore feet and corns without limit 
or stint. It had not impressed me until I 
was in the service that I would experience 
excessive weariness. Seeing companies of 



168 co:n^federate echoes. 

soldiers on the march before my enlistment, 
and before they had learned much of the 
drudgery of that part of warfare, they all 
seemed to step together as one man; and, 
without thinking particulai-ly of the matter, 
the idea was in my mind that such was the 
mutual support which they rendered one 
another that no individual soldier woukl be- 
come much tired. But weariness of every 
grade, even to the utter breakdown of ex- 
haustion, was the individual experience of al- 
most every soldier among us at some time or 
other. I marvel to this day that as many kept 
on their feet as did, as the vivid recollection 
of so many hard marches .by day and by 
night comes to mind. 

As in all other particulars of army life, 
there was a great deal of difference among 
soldiers in regard to marching, so that after 
we had been on a march a few days some 
would straggle, wdiile others would maintain 
their places steadily in the ranks; some would 
yield to weariness with much readiness, while 
others would with much determination resist 
it; some would continue to keep their guns 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES, 169 

in proper position, while others would carry 
them with such looseness as to inconvenience 
or strike those nearest them; some would 
give attention to their feet and keep them 
in good condition as long as possible, while 
others would neglect them from the start 
and soon have them smarting with sores — 
these, and other differences there were among 
infantry soldiers as they went trudging along 
on an extended march. Ordinarily we would 
march an hour and rest fifteen minutes, and 
when the command " Rest ! " was given many 
would drop down on the ground instantly to 
get the full benefit of the rest time allowed 
us; some would remain on their feet most 
of the time, propping themselves with their 
guns or not as they were inclined; and some 
would go on a short " foraging " expedition 
if there were any houses in sight. There 
were expert " foragers " (provision hunters) 
in our regiment, and possibly in every other 
regiment in the army — soldiers who could 
always find willing-hearted citizens to re- 
plenish their haversacks with something- 
good to eat. 



170 CONFEDEliATE ECHOES. 

The money-mnkiiig faculty belongs to some 
men in a pre-eminent sense, so that it is 
said of them that tliey could make money if 
they were placed on a rock without any ap- 
parent facilities for doing so, and this same 
trait conspicuously characterized a number 
of our soldiers during the war. They w^ould 
manage to get hold of something to trade on 
or sell to the otlier soldiei-s. Some of them 
would hunt up whisky, with which they 
would fill their canteens, and sell it to those 
of their comrades who drank; some would 
find materials to make pies of, which they 
would get a good pi'ice for from their hungry 
comrades; and in a number of other ways 
money was made by those who had the fac- 
ulty for so doing. 

I sometimes bought pies from the pie 
makers, who would carry them through the 
command on boards, crying out as they 
passed along, " Come up and draw your 
pies ! " But I am not prepared to praise those 
pies to this day. Some of them were tolerably 
good if I ate them when I was very hungry, 
but generally they were tough and tasteless 



COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 171 

in the extreme. " Fruit pies " they were 
generally called, and usually they did have a 
limited supply of dried fruit of some kind, or 
sweet potatoes, or pumpkin, unmixed with 
siigai", however, between the folds of unshort- 
ened pastry which constituted the top and 
bottom crusts of the pies. Sometimes the 
pie was called a pone; and the following" re- 
ceipt for making a potato pone was made out 
by a soldier and given to a young lady in 
^orth Alabama during the war: 

" One haversack full of flour, worked up 
with water alone into a stiff dough; one pot 
full of potatoes boiled about half done, and 
mashed up skin and all; roll out the dough 
in different pieces about the size of a tin 
plate, and put a wad of the potato on each 
piece, which is then to be folded over the 
potato. Bake with all possible speed, burn- 
ing the bottoms of the pones considerably, 
and barely drying the upper crusts. Let 
them get cold before eating. These are ele- 
gant, and sell readily in camp for fifty cents 
apiece." 

On the march I made it an invariable rule 



172 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

to take all the rest that I could, and care for 
my feet in the best way possiljle to me; and 
but for this established purpose and undevia- 
ting habit of mine it would have been im- 
possible for me to have kept in my place as I 
did, which was almost constantly. A few 
times when the exhaustion of weariness was 
about to overwhelm me some horseman 
would be at hand and allow me the use of 
his horse until my strength returned. The 
surgeon and chaplain had horses, and with 
these officers I was always intimate, from the 
fact that I frequently assisted the former 
with the sick when we were in camp, and la- 
bored constantly with the latter in the reli- 
gious meetings. They would readily accom- 
modate me at any time and in any way that 
they could, but I preferred not to embar- 
rass them by asking favors of them which 
they could not grant to all, and so I would 
stay on my feet as long as strength remained 
to me to do so, and even then would not ask 
to ride, but only do so after a horse was 
earnestly tendered me. It was a very short 
distance — say two or three miles — that I 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 173 

rode either of the exceedingly few times that 
I enjoyed this luxiir}^, having been able, by 
carefulness of my strength. and feet, and in 
the good providence of God, to hold on my 
way with a constancy which seemed indeed 
to be beyond my powers of endurance. As 
soon as my feet gave me the slighest hint 
that a sore was going to be rubbed on them, 
1 would begin to grease them with mutton 
tallow, always having them as free from dirt 
as it was possible for an infantry soldier on 
the march to do. The mutton tallow I found 
to be an admirable remedy when sores were 
threatened or after they were rubbed, and 
1 managed to keep a small tin box of it with 
me all the time, which was fui-nished me from 
time to time by accommodating housekeepers 
on our line of march or adjacent to our camp. 
I would use it very liberally, both greasing 
thoroughly the inflamed places on my feet, 
and putting a thick coating of the suet on 
the inside of my socks where they touched 
the sores. This was done over and over 
again on some of our prolonged marches, and 
saved me from falling out by the way. 



174 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

Corns were formed on the bottoms of my 
feet which remain to this day, but I managed 
to keep them softened on the march, so that 
they did not hurt nor hinder me to amount 
to much. There were many soldiers who 
had the flesh of their feet in places scoared 
off to the bone by their coarse, hard shoes, 
and yet onw^ard they marched day after day 
to find the enemy, or to accomplish some im- 
portant campaign for their defeat in some 
other way. 

It was with much difficulty that all the 
men could, even when perfectly able to 
march, be made to keep well up in their re- 
spective and proper places, and hence the 
command "Close up!" was heard with mo- 
notonous frequency. It was not always 
strictly necessary nor required that the men 
march in compact column, but tliere were 
many times that it was all important. Very 
often the enemy were near at hand, and an 
engagement was momentarily imminent, as 
when we were pursuing them or they us, 
when to have marched disorderly would have 
exposed our army to defeat. On such occa- 



COXFEDEllATE ECHOES. 175 

sions our position in the march must be such 
that we can form instantly into line of battle, 
and by every man being in his proper place 
this could be done with all ease. If there 
was no enemy threatening us, and especial- 
ly if the roads were bad, we wer« only re- 
quired to observe approximately our proper 
relations to each other. There were some 
soldiers, however, who never seemed, under 
any circumstances, to recognize the impor- 
tance of the command being well closed up, 
with all the men in their proper places; and 
it was on account of these that the order to 
close up was so often given. Well, there 
were also those who were forgetful, and those 
who were constitutionally careless, who also 
made the order necessary. Some knew noth- 
ing of drilling and marching, and, like some 
people are about music, it seemed that they 
could never learn. They thought war meant 
simply fighting with all of one's might, 
and that the other requirements laid upon 
them, of keeping step, marching in order, 
and the various forms of drilling, were su- 
perfluous appendages. As one of the lieu- 



176 COXPEDEKATE ECHOES. 

tenants, whose business it was to see that the 
men marched orderly, it sometimes became 
an exceedingly unpleasant duty to perform. 
Men with whom I was intimately associated 
v/hen not on duty would seem to forget that 
they were on duty when on the march, and 
stepping out of ranks, would essay a familiar 
conversation with me as we marched along, 
and at a time when I was under orders to 
keep every man in his place. To promptly 
require such a one to get back to his place 
was very trying to my feelings, and likely to 
hurt his, but had to be done. A presumptu- 
ous private was always an annoyance when 
the company officers were under special or- 
ders to see that the men conformed strictly 
to the requirements contained therein. In 
order to keep one of the men of my company, 
who was inclined to have his own way, in his 
place, one day when we were marching in 
close proximity to the enemy, I had, after re- 
minding him several times of his duty, to 
threaten him with arrest. This irritated him 
very much, and he blurted out: "You can 
command me now, but I will see you after 



CONrEDERATE ECHOES. 177 

the war is over." And, sure enough, he did 
see me after the war, and there never was 
one friend more delighted to see another than 
he was to see me. llis remark gave me no 
offense, and he was soon ashamed of it; and 
especially was it impossible for him to carry 
over any spitefulness to the close of the w^ar 
toward an officer w^io, he knew, was but dis- 
charging his duty in keeping him in place. 

The "forced marches," of which we had 
not a few, were exceedingly hard on us, as 
we had to walk more briskly than usual, and 
had fewer and shorter resting spells. Often, 
also, we would have heavy night marches to 
perform, and Ave had the bad luck frequent- 
ly to have to be in motion when the nights 
were dark and rainy. Hardly half the men 
generally could be carried through these 
forced and night marches without more or 
less straggling, not to say an utter break- 
down on the part of many. Wearied with 
walking, and from the loss of sleep, and yet 
being hurried along at a quick step, exhaus- 
tion w^ould impel them to drop out of ranks 

and rest. The hurried night march that we 

12 



178 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

liad on our retreat from Month of Tippah 
through rain and mud, and wading swollen 
streams of various sizes, followed by a rapid 
march throughout the next day, will be re- 
membered by the soldiers of our command 
as one of those special break down marches. 
There were a number of others of a similar 
character, but this was the severest we had 
had up to that time. We were kept on our 
feet so much on such occasions that we fre- 
quently went to sleep standing up, and some- 
times when we were in motion. At night 
the head of the column would sometimes be 
hindered by the wagons or something else, 
and make our movements very slow for the 
time being, and yet we would be required to 
keep on our feet, and move forward whenev- 
er it could be done. Those were the times 
that weariness was most oppressive to me, 
and I counted it a luxury beyond estimate 
to lie down but for a moment in the mud. 

Carrying luggage on the march was one 
of our troubles, there being certain things 
which it was needful for every soldier to 
have at hand all the time. The wagon trains 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 179 

went along with the commands to haul our 
camp equipage, such as tents, when we had 
any, cooking utensils, axes, etc., but the sol- 
diers, except the commissioned officers, were 
required to carry their guns and cartridge 
boxes, and usually their knapsacks of cloth- 
ing, when they had any. We all carried our 
rations in our haversacks, and canteens for 
water. Our bedding — blankets and oil 
cloths — when we had any, might be thrown 
in the wagons, though it was usual for those 
who had oil cloths to carry them for protec- 
tion when it rained, and some of the soldiers 
who had no oil cloths would carry their 
blankets for this purpose instead of putting 
them in the wagons. In the early part of the 
war we had more baggage of one sort and 
another than we had afterward, and would 
try to carry more, but as the war advanced 
we had less and were less inclined to make 
pack horses of ourselves. Our plunder was 
lessened by throwing away some things, by 
losses on the marches, and by the general 
wear and tear of things. Long before the 
war ended we would do without all that we 



180 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

possibly could, imd make our burdens as 
light as possible; and to this day I have an 
abhorrence of surplus luggage, often prefer- 
ring, even in the winter, to take the risk of 
bad weather to being burdened with an over- 
coat, and will put off as long as possible car- 
rying one on my " rounds " from home at the 
approach of winter. A few of the soldiers 
preferred to have nothing except what cloth- 
ing they then had on, and took the chances 
of getting more when this wore out, and 
when we stopped to camp at night they 
would either nod around the camp fires or 
crowd themselves under the blankets of 
others. 

Much depended on the care we took of 
ourselves at all times, but especially on the 
marches, as to our health, as well as to our 
maintaining our strength — fortifying our- 
selves ac:ainst lati<>'ue. After the weariness 
of a day's mai-ch many would cast themselves 
full length on the ground, w^et or dry, for 
rest, and Avould often make themselves sick 
thereby. The oil cloth (rubber blanket) was 
very important, not onl}^ as a protection 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 181 

ag-ainst the rain when we were marching, 
but by putting it under us at night it pro- 
tected us against the moisture of the ground, 
which was a prolific cause of sickness. Our 
mess, in making our pallet, when without a 
tent, would have an oil cloth or two next to 
the ground, on which we would spread our 
blankets, the top spread also being an oil 
cloth. It was a rare thing that I ever lay on 
the ground if it was at all damp without my 
oil cloth under me if I had one, though there 
were times, on some of the hard marches, 
that T was witiiout one, and so had to drop 
down on the uaked ground for rest. 

I do not recall that the government fur- 
nished us oil cloths to any extent, but we had 
to supply ourselves with them as we did with 
guns, in a large measure, b}' capturing them 
from llie Yankees. They were taken in va- 
rious ways from the enemy: sometimes by 
capturing their quartermaster stores, some- 
times by gathering them up after the Yan- 
kees were routed and had thrown them away 
on the battlefield, and quite a number were 
taken from prisoners and off dead Yankees. 



182 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

I never took but one off a dead Yankee, and 
that one did me no good, although it seemed 
to be a new and excellent one. It was at the 
battle of Peach Tree Creek, after we had 
driven the enemy from before us, and were 
passing over their dead. In my way was one 
of them who had on him an oil cloth, which 
was rolled up lengthways and fastened on his 
body with the belt of his cartridge box after 
it was passed over his shoulder and across 
his chest before and behind. Quickly stoop- 
ing down and cutting the belt, I jerked tlie 
oil cloth loose from the dead man, and went 
on, not taking time to examine it until the 
battle was over, when I found that a Kebel's 
bullet had gone through the roll, making- 
many holes in the cloth, when spread out, be- 
fore it did its deadly work. 



CHAPTER X. 



On the March — Tn Camp — Foraging — Sam and the 
Geese — Prices of Things in General. 

BUILDING camp fires when on the march 
we stopped for the night was a stirring 
procedure, especially if the weather was cold 
or rainy ; and indeed we had to have fires for 
cooking purposes, however pleasant the 
weather might be. If there were fences near, 
and no other wood at hand, rails became our 
fuel; and there w^as generally a rush for 
them, that those nearest the encampment 
might be gathered up first to prevent carry- 
ing them a greater distance. And if we 
stopped where we could get wood otherwise, 
that which could be easiest got was hurried- 
ly procured first, carrying our fuel always at 
such times on our shoulders. It was ever with 
great regret to us all that we were put to the 
necessity of burning fence rails at times, 

(183) 



184: COXFEDEKATE ]^:CIIOES. 

thus destroying the property of our own 
friends; but we often camped without tents, 
even in very bad, cold weather, when to have 
done witliout fires would have produced 
much suffering and sickness, and rails were 
our only chance to have fires. 

We were hindered much in getting wood 
by not having a sufficient supply of good 
axes. The government undertook to furnish 
all that were needed, and had them hauled 
in the wagons for our use, but they were 
used by so many that were not careful with 
them that the supply was reduced very rap- 
idly by losses and being damaged in one way 
or another, and those that we managed to 
keep for use became so dull as to be almost 
useless except for splitting purposes, and 
were too few in number to meet the demand. 
"We bad no grindstones among our army 
stores, and so the only chance to sharpen 
our axes when they became dull was to go 
to the house of some citizen who could ac- 
commodate us. Those of us who could buy 
began to supply ourselves with axes when- 
ever we could, and get the wagoners to take 



CONFEDEliATE ECHOES. 185 

care of them for us when we were not regu- 
larly in camp. Buying an ax was often a 
right difficult thing to do, partly because of 
their scarcity after the war had gone on 
some time, and parth^ because they sometimes 
cost more than we were able to pay for them. 
I noted in my diary that on February 2, 
186»S, while we were in camp near Jackson, 
Miss., I went into that town to buy an ax. 
The price was $15, and that being more 
money than I had, I did not, of course, pur- 
chase it. On my way back to camp I bought 
one that had been in use a good while from 
an old negro man for $6. The price of axes 
went far beyond what it was then before the 
final catastrophe of 1865. Everything be- 
came more and more costly as the war went 
on, until nothing scarcely that a private sol- 
dier wanted besides what the government 
furnished could be bought by him, his w^ages 
being about the only thing that continued 
low. I remember to have received a pair of 
" Yankee boots," as we called them, Febru- 
ary 15, 1863, which were procured through 
the lines for me by Uncle Calvin Goodloe, 



181) CONFEDEIIATK ECHOES. 

and brought to me by Joe Thompson, a mem- 
ber of our regiment, who had been at home 
on furlough. I noted in my diary that they 
jame in the nick of time, and that such boots 
were selling within our lines for $65. What 
they were worth afterward I cannot recall. 
.\t the Gate City Hotel, in Atlanta, a cup of 
coffee without sugar came to be worth $5, a 
bed for one night .fl5, and full meals $20 
each. 

When we started on a march it was seldom 
that w^e knew v/here we were going; or rath- 
er the object of the movement was not usu- 
ally made known to us — the company officers 
and the privates. In how much the com- 
manding general connnunicated his designs 
to the field officers 1 took not the pains to 
inquire. It was our business to obey orders, 
to march, to camp, to do fatigue duty, to 
fight, or what not, as we were ordered by 
those in whose commands ^ye were, and it 
was not w^orth our while to concern ourselves 
or be inquisitive as to what the meaning of 
our movements was; still we interested our- 
selves very much to find out all that we 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 187 

could as to where we were going when we 
were put ou the march, and the significance 
of all our movements. Being free men in 
the highest sense, and fighting for our own 
independence, it was impossible that we be 
not concerned to knoAV all that might possi- 
bly be found out about every campaign with 
which we were connected, and yet we knew 
full well that for the generals to have com- 
municated their plans to us would have 
been almost equivalent to have told them 
to the enemy; for there were many who 
would have been so free to speak of these 
matters that some Yankee emissary or spy, 
near at hand, would have soon learned all 
that we knew. 

It was wonderful that the spirit of subor- 
dination to army authorities pervaded our 
soldiery to the extent that it did, for the 
freest people in the world in the days of the 
"' Old South " were the citizens of our South- 
land, the material which constituted our vol- 
unteer armies. Insubordination cropped out 
now and then on some hard march which 
seemed to have no important end, or in doing 



188 COA'FEDEliATE ECHOES. 

some heavy work which was not needful, or 
wiien having: to fi£,"ht under disadvantages 
which might be obviated; but taking the war 
througliout, we were too intent on beating 
the Yankees back to aliow^ such things to 
hinder us in our purpose to gain, if possible, 
our independence. The conduct of the cam- 
paigns and their results determined, in our 
minds, the competency or incompetency of 
those who directed them, and we were more 
or less encouraged or discouraged thereby, 
but the one common sentiment of bitter ha- 
tred for the ever encroaching foe dominated 
us all and determined our minds to resist 
them under wdiatever circumstances we 
might be placed. 

Camp life, when we were encamped for 
any length of time, was sometimes somewhat 
monotonous, but there were almost always 
duties of one kind and another to be per- 
formed, which, though not particularly at- 
tractive, were valuable to us for exercise and 
to prevent tediousness. The inevitable drill 
had to be gone through with every day that 
the weather would permit, and this was kept 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 189 

np to the very close of the war. Time and 
again we were carried through the various 
evolutions of military tactics, and frequently 
drilled in the manual of arms, with a sham 
battle fought now and then. There were 
also fatigue duties that were required to be 
done, such as cleaning otF the encampment, 
digging sinks, handling army stores, fortify- 
ing, etc. These were done by reliefs, some 
men v/orking awhile and then others taking 
their places while they rested. Guards must 
also be on dut}^ day and night, and espeeial- 
1}^ at night, and there must be details of men 
from day to day for that purpose. 

After the various camp duties had all been 
duly attended to, there was still a good deal 
of time left to us to be employed in such way 
as we might like, provided we violated no 
military order; and herein the differences of 
temperaments, etc., among the soldiers were 
seen, as in all other conditions in which they 
were placed. Some enjoyed one kind of rec- 
reation and some another, while there were 
some who cared not to do anything but loll 
idly about the encampment. Gaming of dif- 



190 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

ferent kinds, and sometimes gambling with 
cards and chucherluch boxes, was resorted to 
by a good many; there was, however, but 
little gambling carried on in the Thirty-fifth 
Alabama Regiment that 1 ever knew of. 
Aiany there were who, caring for their reli- 
gious interests and the spiritual well-being 
of their comrades, gave much attention to 
meetings for those purposes. Of the reli- 
gious work in the army I propose to speak 
specially and separately after awhile. For 
myself I found my recreation in the interim 
of military duties mainly in religious labors, 
reading, and writing to the loved ones at 
home, and other relations. I always kept a 
long letter on hand to my wife, when I had 
time to write one, so that I could send it 
whenever a possible opportunity for doing so 
presented itself. I loved the game of chess 
very much, which I had learned when a stu- 
dent in Virginia at B. F. Minor's pi-epara- 
tory school to the University of Virginia, 
and while at Grenada, Miss., a part of the 
winter of 1862-63, our chaplain (Rev. Rob- 
ert A. AYilson) and T played it a good deal. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 101 

\Ye both, however, came simultaneously to 
the conclusion one night while we were play- 
ing, that, though there was possibly no harm 
in the game itself, still we were consuming 
time that could be better employed, and so 
we gave it up altogether. To be sure the 
liociiil intercourse among the soldiers, aside 
from any other form ol' recreation, was a very 
agreeable manner of spending our time. 
Members of different messes would visit 
each other in an informal way, and we would 
often cluster about iu camp, as we fell in 
with each other by accident or otherwise, 
and talk over the uftairs of the day. 

Ours was not a hired soldiery in the re- 
motest sense, as the Yankee army was in 
a large measure, but it was a citizen sol- 
diery, made up of the very best type of citi- 
zenship and accustomed to tlie best phases 
of social life, so that our mingling togetlier 
in the camp was the intercourse of intelligent 
and cultured manhood, altogether capable of 
the highest appreciation of those things 
which affected the interests of the army, the 
people, and the country at large. ^Fany in- 



192 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

deed were the pleasant moments in which we 
dwelt together in this way^ and which both 
served to draw ns nearer together and to 
counteract the longings for home, which 
might otherwise oppress us. There v^as no 
scarcity of subjects for conversation, of 
course, as the whole country, so to speak, 
was in arms, and there was no movement in 
any department of the Confederate or Yan- 
kee armies but that was of interest to us. 
Through the secular pai)ers — the Me7nj)Ms 
Aj^jjeal particularly, whose printing presses 
went from place to place in the South for 
safety from the Yankees — we kept well up 
with what was transpiring in every direction, 
and with the rumors, I may also say, which 
were ever floating in the air only to vanish 
into nothing. The multitude and variety of 
these flying rumors, called " grapevine dis- 
patches," cannot be numbered. As a rule 
they were in our favor, though now and then 
they w^ere not. The fact is, our soldiers and 
citizens were intensely hopeful of success al- 
most throughout the entire war, and we were 
ever ready to enlarge upon whatever pleas- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 193 

ant tidings for a long while that came to our 
ears, and at once stamp out as false whatever 
had a discouraging aspect. 

Our camp employment consisted, in a 
measure, also in supplementing our army ra- 
tions by supplies purchased from citizens in 
the country surrounding our encampment, 
even at remote distances from it, and in 
reaping all the benefit that we could from 
our culinary department. We could gener- 
ally get permission, a few at a time, to "go 
foraging," as we called our visits to the 
country for purchasing such things — vege- 
tables, fowls, etc. — as the government could 
not supply us with to any extent, or we 
could send our cooks, always negroes, at any 
time that we pleased. A great many messes 
— most of them, I judge — preferred to do their 
own cooking, mainly I suppose because of 
the expense of hiring cooks. At Canton, 
Miss., the winter of 1863-64, where we were 
longer in camp than at any other place, our 
mess had a negro cook who did our foraging. 
His name was Sam, and he was the property 

of Scip Cross, one of the soldiers, from 
13 



194 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

whom we hired him. He was a good cook, 
and as a forager he was eminently success- 
fnl; albeit, he was more attentive to the 
wants of the mess and of himself than he was 
to the interests of the citizens whose prem- 
ises he visited. He reported one day that he 
had fonnd a flock of geese which he conld 
get at the low price of thirty cents apiece if 
we were willing to eat them. Of course we 
wanted them, and furnished him the money 
from day to clay to get one until the flock, T 
presume, was consumed, or until the supply, 
at least, was exhausted. We ate them with 
very great relish, and they were so fat that 
we tried up lai-d from them, of a delightful 
quality at that, to shorten our corn bread and 
biscuit. Sam, who was always good-natured, 
was unusually merry while the goose busi- 
ness was going on; and I could notice a jol- 
ly twinkle of his eyes, now and then, as he 
would cut them around at one of my mess- 
mates — Pike Cockrill, my brother-in-law. 
He had communicated his secret to Pike, 
and bound him over to keep it strictly from 
me until the geese were all gone, and we had 



CONFEDEPvATE ECHOES. 195 

left Canton, fearing that T, who was at the 
head of the mess, would make matters un- 
pleasant for him. The fact was that he was 
taking the geese on the sly, and selling them 
to the mess at peace prices. He did not call 
that stealing, however, for he claimed that if 
he did not get them some one else would; 
moreover, he declared that he tried to buy 
the geese, but that the owner put a higher 
price on them than he thought ought to be 
asked. 

The army negro, as we had him among us, 
I will here say, gave every evidence of being 
pleased with the life that he then lived. We 
only kept him as a servant, in which capaci- 
ty he was well satisfied to abide; and he 
performed the duties that we put upon him 
with a decided relish. Of course he was al- 
ways in the rear when a fight was on hand, 
and his big mouth would smile to its utmost 
capacity whenever we whipped the Yankees. 
On the march he usually went along Avith the 
wagon trains, and always rendered important 
service if any of the wagons were disabled 
or otherwise obstructed in their movements. 



196 co:n^fedeiiate echoes. 

When upon going into camp in cold weath- 
er it was understood that we would remain 
some length of time, many of the messes 
would set to work at once to improve their 
quarters, though there were others who 
seemed indifferent to comforts of any kind, 
and were content with such accommodations 
as the government furnished. The field offi- 
cers were usually supplied with wall tents, 
in which they could use cots and stools, and 
walk about in with little inconvenience, but 
the companies had the "A" tents when they 
had tents of any kind, except that in a few 
cases and for a short while there were round 
conical tents. The "A" tent was nothing- 
more than the roof of a tent stretched over a 
pole and pinned to the ground, the only 
standing room in it being under the pole. 
One end was closed, and at the other end 
the door of the tent, aud by building a fire 
just outside the open end, and pinning back 
the lower corners of the door, so to speak, it 
was made very comfortable within as we lay 
on our ground pallets. In order to make 
such tents more roomy and high enough to 



CONrEDERATE ECHOES. 197 

stand up in without inconvenience, we would 
sometimes build pens of poles several feet 
high, and then stretching the tents above 
them as roofs. The cracks in these pens we 
would diiiib with mud or stop with moss or 
straw. We would also build small stick- 
and-mud chimneys to these structures, which 
served for warming and cooking purposes, a 
much better arrangement, especially in bad 
weather, than having to warm and cook by 
fires without the tent. AYe constructed our 
bunks above ground with forks and poles or 
slabs, upon which we would place straw or 
moss to spread our blankets on, and arranged 
such seats as best we could. Having thus 
improved our temporary abiding' places, we 
were ready to engage in housekeeping Avith 
a merry relish. Many thought it worth their 
while to take this much pains to make them- 
selves comfortable without the assurance 
that they would get the benefit of their im- 
provement longer than a week, it really be- 
ing a pleasant pastime to them to do such 
w^ork. 

We remained longer in winter quarters 



198 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

near Canton, Miss., the winter of 1863-64 
than at any other place, and there many of 
lis built cabins out and out, using split logs 
for the walls, there being a great many small 
straight red oak trees at hand, and covering 
them with boards which we also made from 
timber that was convenient to the encamp- 
ment. To these cabins we built pretty good 
chimneys of the stick-and-mud kind, and in 
them we arranged our sleeping bunks, one 
above the other like the berths in steamboats. 
There w^as a great deal of long moss on the 
trees in that section, and this we used for 
stopping the cracks in our cabins and spread- 
ing on our rude bunks to make them as soft 
as possible. Such was the kind of cabin that 
the mess to which I then belonged built and 
occupied. There were others that were sim- 
ilarly or better constructed, but some of the 
soldiers made themselves only very indiffer- 
ent shanties, while others remained in the 
tents w^hich they had; the encampment 
therefore presented a strikingly variegated 
aspect, and was really an interesting scene 
to look upon, albeit we were not sufficient- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 199 

ly poetical in those days to give attention to 
scenery. 

When not on duty we were kept quite 
close in our quarters by severely cold or 
rainy weather, and then it wa^ tiuit we en- 
joyed in an especial manner the improve- 
ments that we had made, those of us who had 
taken the pains to make any. I call to mind 
how those of us who used tobacco relished 
our pipes when thus confined to our camp 
tenements by inclement weather. I have 
long been opposed to the use of the '' weed" 
in any way, but in those days I esteemed 
such indulgence next to a necessity, and an 
inexpressible delight. January 20, 1863, 
while in camp at Grenada, Miss., I wrote in 
my diary, expecting thereafter to make it 
more full: " Here I must insert an essay when 
I ha.ve leisure on the luxury of the pipe in 
camp in cold weather." This was while we 
were having some very cold, disagreeable 
weather. We had a great deal of rain while 
in camp on Big Black in February, 1863, 
and in ni}^ diary of the 13th of that month 
occurs this utterance: "O the luxury of a 



200 CONEEDEKATE ECHOES. 

pipe ill camp! Would that the Muses would 
inspire me to write a poetical essay on that 
subject! " It is too late for such a perform- 
ance as that now, were I ever so poetical, which 
I am not, there being no poetry to me in the 
pipe in these times of peace. Several of us 
liad joined in a smoke together that day, and 
at the conclusion of it resolutions were passed 
requesting whoever could to write of the 
value of the pipe under such circumstances, 
but none of us felt competent to do the sub- 
ject justice. 

My recollection is that most of the soldiers 
with whom I was thrown from time to time 
both chewed and smoked tobacco as a con- 
stant habit, whether in camp or on the 
march, but one of them, not of our immediate 
command, whom I met in iS^orth Alabama in 
the winter of 1864, gave me this hint on the 
tobacco habit, wdiich I here record as a Reb- 
el relic : 

Tobacco is a noxious weed. 

Davy Crockett sowed the seed. 

It robs your pocket aud soils your clothes, 

And makes a chimney of your nose. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 201 

"We always undertook, when in camp for 
any length of time, to get up the best meals 
that we could, but when kept in our homely 
abodes by bad weather we took special pains 
to prepare something very nice to eat, if we 
had been so fortunate as ta get in any good 
"forage." We occasionally had sugar; and 
would make sweet cakes, pies, etc., when we 
had the other articles necessarj' for making 
such things. These we ate in the midst of 
comments and merriment, and would some- 
times send a portion to the field officers. I 
recall an unusually bad day at Jackson, 
Miss., February 4, 1863, and a pleasant inci- 
dent in connection with it. That day it com- 
menced sleeting just after breakfast, which 
was soon followed by a pouring rain, which 
lasted till bedtime. Our mess, at the head 
of which then was Lieut. Martin, was occu- 
pying a pole pen with a tent cloth stretched 
over it, into the side of which we had made 
a fireplace. We had the good luck to have 
in store some dried peaches, and H. E. Kel- 
logg, a member of our mess, tried his skill in 
making peach pies, which indeed were very 



202 OOJS-b^EDEllATE ECHOES. 

fine. "We selected the nicest-looking one of 
the pies and sent it around to Col. Goodwin, 
then commanding our regiment. On a slip 
of paper accompanying the pie was written : 
" Compliments of Lieut. Martin and mess." 
A written reply came back from Col. Good- 
win in these words: "Lieut. Martin and 
mess will please accept a soldier's gratitude." 

Our encampment on Big Black was great- 
ly saddened the morning of February 18, 
1863, by a shocking accident which occurred. 
Some men in Company C cut down a tree in 
a street of the camp while it was raining, and 
most of the men w ere in their tents. Feai'- 
ing when it began to fall that it would strike 
one of the tents, they hallooed to the men in 
it to run out; and one of them (Hamilton, of 
the same company) jumped into the street 
just in time for the tree to strike him and 
kill him. He was mashed to death into the 
soft ground by the large limbs of the tree in 
a most horrid manner. 

There were a number of accidents that oc- 
curred, from first to last, on the march and 
in camp, resulting in the death or maim- 



co:n'federate echoes. 20:^ 

ing of soldiers; and in all such cases vre were 
more shocked than when our comrades fell 
in battle. When on the battlefield we were 
in the midst of carnage, and so w^ere i3repared 
for whatever might befall any with whom we 
fought; but when off the field we were not 
expecting sudden calamities to overtake 
them to the destruction of life or loss of 
limb. 



CHAPTER XI. 



The Army Ox — The Army Louse. 

DURIls^G much of the war — most of it, I 
suppose — we had the ahiiost constant 
companionship of the ai-my ox and the army 
louse, upon both of which I prepared reports 
for the John L McEwen Bivouac, in 1891, 
and those reports I shall here incorporate 
into this record, that war may be seen also 
in the light which they present. 

The Army Ox. 
It was not necessary to be a herdsman nor 
a butcher nor a commissary, during- the war 
in which we were engaged for freedom from 
Yankee rule, to learn that oxen and Confed- 
erate soldiers Vvcre closely identified willi 
each other, and that but for the abiding 
presence of the oxen the Confederate in 
arms would have often fared much worse 
than he did. Every soldier knew that. The 
(£01) 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 205 

oxen are therefore worthy of our most aftec- 
tionate remembrance; nor do we think that 
we belittle the functions of the Historical 
Committee, nor the dignity of the Bivouac, 
by reporting on the army ox. Whatever, 
indeed, was connected with the expedition 
of ours to rid our Southland of Yankee in- 
vaders is of perpetual interest, we take it. 
Unfortunately for us, be it said, the Yankee 
soldier came to stay; but fortunately for us, 
the army ox also came to stay. 

There were seasons, especially in the ear- 
lier period of the struggle, when richer diet 
than the typical army ox, and more abun- 
dant, was provided; but it, like other sub- 
lunary things, soon passed away. ^N^or need 
we to have repined, as so many did, because 
of this revolution of rations, for, after all, we 
were gainers in health and strength and en- 
durance by the change. It might have been 
a physiological necessit}^ that Moses kept his 
Israelites from swine and put them on beef 
ad infinitum; and so Jeff Davis might have 
reasoned that his Confederates could whip 
more Y^^ankees and do more running with 



206 COISTFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

beef rations than they could on hog flesh. 
'Naj, it was dire necessity which drove us to 
fall back on beef rations, just as necessity, 
alias Yankees, compelled ns to fall back 
from position to position until we fell a prey 
to Lincoln's hired legions. 

"Come up and di*aw your beef!" Thus 
yelled the fifth sergeant fi'om day to da}^, and 
to this day the delectable sound still rings in 
our ears, though more than a quarter of a 
century has passed since we last heard it. 
"Come up and draw your beef!" It mat- 
tered not how much or how little, how good 
or how bad, how it was as to quality or 
quantity, it was nevertheless drawn, and 
some mirth-provoking response was always 
made by some soldier to the call of the com- 
pany commissary. Indeed, if there ever was 
a condition of things that existed in our 
arm}^, however straitened it might have been, 
when there was not some soldier ready with 
a humorous remark, my memory is at fault. 
In the dreariest of bivouacs, undei- the sorest 
of privations, on the hardest of marches, and 
even in the lulls of battle, the ludicrous 



COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 207 

would pop out of some one, not necessarily 
a wag, and often to the unspeakable relief 
of his comrades who were enduring next to 
intolerable tension. Blessings upon the head 
of the old Reb who could give us something 
to laugh at when our agonies would have al- 
most overcome us without it! Call him a 
wag, if you will, but he Vv'as an army bene- 
factor for all that, and will always be re- 
membered most lovingly by his old compan- 
ions in suffering and peril. Blessings upon 
him! 

But did I say Ave always drew the beef, 
whether it was good or whether it was bad? 
Not always. Once at least the beef was 
blue and slimy and sticky, not aifording the 
slightest hint that there was even marrow in 
the bones of the ox that furnished it, not to 
speak of kidney fat. We were near Ed- 
wards Depot, in Mississippi, about fifteen 
miles east of Vicksburg. and it was Febru- 
ary 14, 1863, when we w ent back this one 
time on beef, not blaming the ox, however, for 
what the butcher and chief commissary did. 
Insubordination is no })art of a good soldier. 



208 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

but here onr contracted abdomens drove us 
to it, in a measure. It proved to be the 
proper course for us, for the beef immediate- 
ly improved to the extent that it was possi- 
ble for us to eat it. And, after all, how 
could v.e much blame the butcher and the 
commissary? We were doing a good deal 
of campaigning at that tiuie, with but little 
to feed our cattle on, so that every day found 
them weaker and poorer. Some could stand 
marching and starving better than others, 
and so they must be kept on foot as long as 
possible. But what was to be done with 
those which, from Vveariness and hunger, 
could go no farther? Why, eat them, of 
course. And it was said, and the saying 
obtained general credence, that as we stopped 
to camp after a day's march, a fence rail was 
laid across the road in front of the beeves, 
and that those were slaughtered for our next 
day's rations that could not step over the rail. 
Be it remembered that in those halcyon 
days we generally prepared oui* beef for eat- 
ing by jerking it; and Ijeing thus prepared, 
the difference was not so marked between 



COJiTFEDEEATE ECHOES. 209 

good and bad beef as it would have been if 
prepared some other way. The jerking 
process may have been interesting to most 
of ns when we first had to resort to it, but it 
became decidedly monotonous to us before 
we were through with it. It was done by 
holding the meat to the fire, having first 
"strung" it on a ramrod or stick, and turn- 
ing it around from time to time until it was 
toasted through, more or less. The ration 
of beef for the day we cut into three pieces 
before we jerked it, to answer for our three 
meals, and that with three small corn "dodg- 
ers " made the ration in full for the day. It 
could have all been easily eaten at one sit- 
ting without any sense of heaviness on the 
stomach, but it was for the entire day, and 
so we went through three motions to con- 
sume it. Some, however, would cook and 
eat their day's ration at one time, and then 
make the best shift they could the remainder 
of the day for something else to eat. To be 
sure it was not always beef and corn dodg- 
ers, as above remarked, but such was our 
diet much of the time, and especiallj^ when 



210 COISTPEDERATE ECHOES. 

we were in motion; and it Vv^as oftener that 
we fared much worse than this than that we 
fared better. Some of the soldiers were 
wont to say that they never wanted to see 
another ox after the war ended, but "more 
beef and better beef" was what others longed 
for when they should come to command the 
situation. To the latter class I belonged, 
and so remain to this day. G-ive me heef. 

Passing over into Georgia, a " bull meet- 
ing " comes to mind that was held in our en- 
campment at sundown September 27, 1864:, 
the day after President Davis reviewed the 
arniv. while we were Ivlnsr a few miles from. 
Palmetto Station, just before entering upon 
Hood's famous " Tennessee Campaign." Here 
we w^ere shut in by a chain of sentinels to pre- 
vent us from " foraging," and our rations were 
so slight as to furnish no check to our hun- 
ger. A fine herd of beeves had been collect- 
ed, we understood, but it was presumed that 
Hood was savino- them for the long- march 
that was before us. The cattle, it is known, 
wei'e traveled along with the army from day 
to day, when it was in motion. It was re- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 211 

ally a very distressing condition of things, 
as we were more and more hunger-bitten 
each succeeding day, and by degrees the 
spirit of mntin}^ crept in among the men. 
They made complaints to the proper author- 
ities, but to no purpose, until finally notices 
of a " bull meeting " were stuck on the trees 
throughout the encampment, to be held at 
sundown, the place of gathering to be des- 
ignated by '' bellowing." At the appointed 
time bellowing began near division head- 
quarters, and grew louder and louder as the 
crowd increased. When the bellowing 
ceased, the crowd having congregated, 
speaking began on the subject of short ra- 
tions v.iien it was possible for the army to 
be better provisioned. Among the speakers 

was S P , a lawyer in my company, 

six feet five inches high. This speaker and 
the occasion were well suited. He loved to 
eat, and we accused him of never having had 
a good filling since his enlistment in the 
army. Abdominally he was not large "in 
the girth," but he was unusually long. That 
evening he was exceedingly hungry. Xo 



212 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

platform bad been erected for the speakers, 
and this particular speaker was lifted up on 
the limb of a tree by several soldiers when 
he was called on to epeak. He certainly 
"loomed." At the close of the meeting no- 
tice was given that unless larger rations 
were furnished by the commissary right 
away, the men would provide themselves 
with beef from the army pens. The beef, 
plus cornfield peas, came through the prop- 
er channel, and the day following S 

P , being full (peas will swell), enter- 
tained the encampment, division headquar- 
ters and all, with a magnificent speech, aglow 
with patriotism, subordination, chivalry, etc. 
While the flesh of the ox was a success 
(let us admit) as army diet, his hide, un- 
tanned, at least, was a failure as foot cover- 
ing, called at the time " moccasins." This 
was tested while on the march northward 
through Georgia on our way to Tennessee. 
The night of October 11, 1861:, we camped 
some twelve miles northeast of Rome. Just 
after we had eaten our supper and jerked 
our beef for the next day, orders came for 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 213 

all the shoe makers to report at army head- 
quarters. The presumption was that thej 
would be sent to the rear to make shoes for 
the soldiers, many of v.hom were barefooted 
and many poorly shod; and never before 
was it known that the shoe maker's trade 
was so largely represented in the army. 
And those that were not shoe makers that 
night seemed to regret that they had not 
learned the trade. "Anything for a change " 
was the idea which sometimes pervaded the 
ranks; and so shoe making just then was 
thought to be much better than marching, 
with those who professed to be qualified for 
such Vv'ork. But late in the night came the 
shoe makers back to their respective com- 
panies in droves, disgusted with themselves 
and with Gen. Hood and with ox hides. In- 
stead of going to the rear to make shoes out 
of leather, as the order was very naturally 
interpreted to mean, they were required to 
make rawhide moccasins that night in camp, 
and report back to their commands for duty 
at daybreak the next morning. The return- 
ing ones vowed, when they learned the real 



214 CO^^TFEDERATE ECHOES. 

meaning of the order, that they knew noth- 
ing about making moccasins, and further- 
more that tliey had never before lieard of 
such things. That we enjoyed their dis- 
comfiture when they returned from their 
shoe-making expedition need not be stated. 
But some of the slioe makers — how many 
I could never learn — toughed it out and 
made moccasins of the hides of the beeves 
that were slaughtered that day. They were 
made with the flesh sides out and the hair 
next to tlie bare feet of the soldiers wdio 
wore them. Before being put on the feet 
they looked like hideous pouches of some 
kind, but no man could have conjectured for 
what purpose they were made. However, 
there was much bragging on them the next 
day by those to whom they had been issued. 
But the next night and day following it 
i-ained, rained, rained, and alas for the moc- 
casins and the men who wore them! Just 
such shapes as those moccasins assumed, 
and such positions as they occupied on the 
feet, as the men went trudging along through 
the mud and water, can never be told; nor 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 215 

can any imagination, however refined, jnstly 
depict them. The pioneer corps were ahead 
of us putting poles and rails across the nu- 
merous little branches that the rain had 
made, for us to walk over on; ami whenever 
a moccasin-footed soldier vrould step on one 
of these poles or rails into the branch the 
moccasin would instantly conduct him. Lu- 
dicrous remarks and ludicrous scenes with- 
out number characterized that day's march, 
which were as cordial to us in our weariness, 
and long before night the moccasins and 
theii' wearers forever parted company. It is 
due to the army ox, however, to say that it 
was a great injustice to him to work up his 
untanned hide in this way; and that if prop- 
er measures had been taken with it in ad- 
vance the soldiers could have been well and 
comfortably shod, and the reputation of tlie 
army ox would not have suffered amoi^g" 
those to whose support and cheer he so 
faithfully and constantly contributed. But 
more reflection, indeed, was cast upon Hood 
than upon the ox for the moccasin under- 
taking and the moccasin failure. 



21 G COKJe-EDElLATi: ECHOES. 

Precious with the Confederate soldier is 
the memory of the army ox. 

The Army Louse. 
The army louse, or grayback, was an army 
appendage of which honorable mention need 
not particularly be made, as in the case of 
the Confederate ox, but which fidelity to 
the facts of army life demands that record, 
at least, be made. Where he came from 
when the war broke out, and where he went 
when it closed, is not in the scope of this 
committeeman's knowledge. The grayback 
was never here until Lincoln's soldiers 
came, and the easy presumption is that they 
Ijrought him along with them, and turned 
him loose on us. But why they carried him 
back with them after the war was over is a 
puzzle, since the pests generally which they 
brought with tliem remained. Did not the 
Yankees bring the chicken cholera, and the 
hog cholera, and women-in-breeches, and 
various other pests and plagues? and are 
the}^ not all still here? And yet when the 
Yankees marched back home the graybacks 



CONrEDEIlATE ECHOES. 217 

did likewise. But the solution of problems 
is not one of the functions of an historical 
committee, which has only to gather and re- 
cord facts. The fact, then, is that there 
were no gray backs in the Southern Confed- 
eracy until the tramp of Yankee soldiery 
was heard in our land; and that is about all 
that we know about their origin. May we 
never see their like again ! 

For size, the army louse was a success, he 
being, auiong the rest of the tribe to which 
he is supposed to belong, when he had 
reached his majority, as the elephant is to 
the quadriqjedal beasts of a majestic sort 
among which he roams in the jungles of Af- 
rica. As to locomotion he seemed not to be 
brisk, but moved from place to place with 
leisurely dignity, always, however, coming 
to time in locating himself in such quarters 
as suited his comfort and convenience. He 
was a quiet, easy bloodsucker, and so took 
up his lodging where his business would be 
convenient to him. Unlike the flea and the 
seed tick and the chigoe, he did not mean to 
worry you when his suction pump for blood 



218 CO]!JFEDEllATE ECHOES. 

was put in operation; raid really he would 
sometimes be nearly through with the per- 
formance before you knew he had begun, 
and then you would only experience a .slight 
local warmth and itching sensation, making it 
a veritable luxury to scratch. Any soldier 
would at any time have traded oft' a flea or 
a chigoe for a grayback. I can vividly re- 
call an occasion when our command, in stop- 
ping to rest where there were very many 
rotten logs, were liberally supplied with 
chigoes from the logs, upon which they seat- 
ed themselves; and there was a universal de- 
sire to trade oft* chigoes for graybacks, some 
of the soldiers oftering as many as ten chig- 
oes for one grayback, if the other \mvty 
Avould catch the chigoes. 

My first palpable personal experience v/ith 
the grayback was Monday morning, April 
27, 18G3. From what 1 then perceived, it 
w^as obvious that they were old settlers in 
my clothing; but they had made their set- 
tlement, and carried on their incursions so 
adroitly and tenderly as to make me suspect 
that the itching sensation I had been experi- 



COXFLDEKATE ECHOES. 219 

enciiig from time to time was but the effect 
of a slight ''humor in the blood," or only 
the product of weariness and dirt. I had 
slept in a covered bridge near Enterprise, 
Miss., the night before wdth a number of our 
regiment, to protect us against rain, and all 
night 1 was troubled with unusual heat of 
the surface at large, and an inordinate pro- 
pensity to scratch. Before breakfast I went 
up the river a short distance above the 
bridge for a bath, and to cool off my fever- 
ish skin. Having made the necessary prep- 
arations to go into the river, it occurred to 
me to examine the inside of my under gar- 
ments, and upon turning them inside out 1 
found them literally specked with graybacks. 
To the inevitable I most reluctantly sur- 
rendered; and from that day to this I have 
held that no soldier is to be accredited with 
perfect fidelity to all his duties who did not 
have the companionship, in liberal measure, 
of the grayback. 

The habitation, by preference, of the gray- 
back, was the inner seams of the garments 
next the skin, whether they were drawers or 



220 COA'FEDEilATB ECHOES. 

pants, shirts or jackets; for sometimes the 
veteran of the stars and bars could afford no 
nndergarmentSj his only "^Tearing apparel be- 
ing breeches and jacket, wearing them there- 
fore, of course, next to his skin. To be 
sure the graj back would not stay in the 
seams all the time; for he must needs live 
by foraging, and so would travel about over 
the body and limbs of the one who carried 
him, in quest of a tender place in the skin 
into which to introduce his suction pump. 
He often had the honorable title of " Body 
Guard" bestowed upon him, so vigilant was 
he in his attentions to the person of the soldier, 
over which he quietly and v/atchfully glided. 
Capturing gray backs, when one was so 
cruel as to do so, was a careful and system- 
atic i)rocedure. This was the only meth- 
od by which the soldier could get rid of 
them to any extent, for boiling water is no 
exterminator of them, as many witnesses 
who have tried it most emphatically declare. 
It is said of the flea that " when 3^ou put 
your finger on him he is not there," but of 
the gray back it may be said that when you 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 221 

put your finger on him he is there; so that 
capturing them was an easy undertaking, 
not to say an interesting pastime rather tlian 
otherwise. When embarking seriously in 
an expedition against graybacks the soldier 
would take his seat on a log some distance 
from camp, and proceed about as follows: 
First he removes his jacket and carefully in- 
spects it within and without, and then liangs 
it on a bush in the sun. This sunning proc- 
ess is to allure any grayback from his hiding 
place, by its genial warmth, that may have 
been overlooked. The shoes are then taken 
ofi* and thoroughly jarred,* with the c^-im side 
downward, and put to one side. The socks 
are removed, one at a time, slowly and cau- 
tiously, with the eyes intently fixed on every 
interstice within and without; they are then 
well shaken, and hung in the sun, wrong side 
out. ]!^ext the pants are slipped off easily, 
and the outside care fullj^ examined; then, by 
degrees, the inside of each leg is turned out, 
until the pants, as a whole, are turned, while 
with increasing eagerness the wearer exam- 
ines every seam and wrinkle. This garment 



222 COlS^FEDEllATE ECHOES. 

is also hung in the sun, inside out. IS'ow for 
the shirt. A like inspection and sunning is 
undergone with that, while the soldier is no 
less watchful, but much more busy than he 
had heretofore been. It was a kind of skir- 
mish before this, but now the battle is joined, 
so far as the soldier is concerned, with death- 
dealing vigor, and scores of gray backs are 
slain, togetlicr ^^ illi those in embryo, for 
within the shirt many nits are found. Last- 
ly the draW'Crs come oft' as the pants did, and 
are likewise inspected and hung in the sun. 
The removal of these is done with greater 
care and closer inspection, if possible, than 
was the case heretofore with the other gar- 
ment, and the graybacks and nits that are 
popped between the nails of the thumbs need 
not be guessed at. A corporeal inspection 
is then undergone, a bunch of pennyroyal is 
I'ubbed on tlie surface, if any is at hand, and 
the soldier puts on his clothes again. He 
dresses slowly, carefully reinspecting each 
garment before putting it on; and then goes, 
whistling " Dixie," back to camp. 

Just when the grayback got into the Con- 



COXFEDE31ATE ECHOES. 223 

federate camp the army statisticians have 
not shown, but an exploit similar to the one 
just described, though not so elaborate, was 
not enacted in my sight until the opening of 
the summei" of 1862. 

As to the general contour of the grayback, 
the number of his legs, the mechanism of the 
proboscis which he employed as a suction 
pump, the dimensions of his posterior de- 
partment, and the capacity of his blood res- 
ervoir ni}^ memory does not serve me suffi- 
ciently to state, more than to sa}^ what has 
already been said: that the grayback was, 
as a louse, an undisputed success. 

And novr it is due the author of this report 
to say that he is not writing for the mere 
amusement of the Bivouac, but to put on 
record, in as pleasant a way as he can, what 
is necessary to a full statement and under- 
standing of army life, and to show, in part, 
through what humiliation we had to pass in 
contending for our inalienable rights. To 
do full duty in the ranks, especially in the 
infantry, it was simply impossible for us to 
be altogether free fi'om dirt and vei-rnin, with 



22i COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

the best of pains that we could take. To be 
sure there were some soldiers who were not 
as careful of cleanliness, in person and cloth- 
ing, as they might have been; and yet, when 
we consider that there were thousands, after 
awhile, who were without a change of gar- 
ments, and remember that we constantly 
marched through dust and mud, or were 
transported in dirty cars, and slept almost 
constantly on the ground, the utter futility 
of their undertaking to be free from dirt and 
vermin, in any effectual sense, is but too ob- 
vious. With all the Avashing that could be 
done (and we were frequently where we could 
scarcely get a sufficient supply of drinking- 
water) and all the care that could otherwise 
be taken of garments and person, there was 
the barest possibility oftentimes of an ap- 
j^roach to cleanliness. As to those who were 
not as careful as they might have been in such 
matters, it can nevertheless be said of them 
that they were often foremost in the fight, 
and ready for all kinds of fatigue duty. 
Some soldiers seemed to give themselves over 
to a don't-care manner of life in these and 



CON^FEDEKATE ECHOES. 225 

other matters, and were only careful to do 
what they could to beat the Yankees. Hon- 
ored be their memories! 

Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray! 
In Dixie's Land we'll take our stand, 
To lib and die for Dixie. 
Away, away, away down South in Dixie; 
Away, away, away down South in Dixie. 
15 



CHAPTER XIT. 



Slaughter in War — Yankee Enlistments and Ours 
Compared — Motives of Each — Various Other Mat- 
ters. 

THE chief significance of war is the whole- 
sale slaughter of man by man, as army 
is arrayed against army, with weapons of de- 
struction in hand and in use against each 
othei- with the utmost vigor on the field of 
battle; and here it is that all army move- 
ments and strategems of commanders, in the 
main, converge. x\n enemy is sometimes de- 
feated without a battle being fought, by 
adroit stratagem, one army getting such ad- 
vantage of another -as to render it powerless 
foi- resistance; but the rule is to fight, and to 
do so with all fury, that the slain nuiy be as 
multitudinous as possible. The greater the 
number that fall in battle on one side the 
more gratifying it is to the other. It cer- 
tainly was so with us during the war in which 
we were engaged, and it is not yet an unpleas- 
(226) 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 227 

I 

ant recollection that we killed in battle more 
Yankees by far than the aggregate of our 
armies amounted to, besides wounding thrice 
as many more; so that it takes millions on 
top of millions of dollars annually of govern- 
ment money to pension those that our bul- 
lets struck, but did not kill. 

Whenever a battle was fought the num- 
ber of the slain Vfas the first information 
sought; and if a great many had fallen on 
either side, the tidings thrilled the other side 
with delight all over the land, both in the 
army and among the citizens. Possibh' we 
loved to hear of Yankees being killed in 
great numbers more than we ought to have 
done, but they took great pains to incur our 
hate and compel us to rejoice in their de- 
struction. We were interested, to be sure, 
in the numbers of wounded and prisoners, 
but the best results to us of a battle was 
when the greatest number of Yankees " bit 
the dust," as we were wont to speak. The 
Yankees were the same way toward us, of 
course, their vindictive hate for Southerners 
inciting them to kill as many of us as they 



228 COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

could; nor did they confine their murderous 
operations to the battlefield, but many help- 
less citizens were persecuted and imprisoned 
and killed by them and their conscienceless 
emissaries. What martyrdom of Southern 
citizens was suffered at the hands of our in- 
veterate haters who wore tlie blue can never 
be told. War against the South with them 
meant war against unarmed men and help- 
less women as well as against oiu' armed sol- 
diery. They hated us all and our institutions 
with a perfect hatred. 

Going into battle was always to me a try- 
ing ordeal, nor can I say that T liked it any 
better after it was fully joined. There is no 
scene through which man is called to pass 
that is comparable to those which character- 
ize the field of battle. It exhibits the might- 
iest possible tumult of rage among men, a 
very pandemonium on earth. The close and 
constant thunderous outbursts of artillery, 
and explosions of shells thrown from it into 
the ranks of men, the interminable flash and 
rattle of musketry, and the whistling, whiz- 
zino- tones of the missiles of death whicli issue 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 229 

momentarily from it; the long, loud yells of 
irate men striving with their best manhood 
for the mastery, and nerving each other to 
tlie utmost feats of valor; opposing lines of 
soldiery rushing recklessly against each other 
until the earth seems to moan and shudder 
under their feet; the constantly toppling to 
the ground of the slain and wounded men — 
this much and more attaches to the surging 
billows of discordant men as they come to- 
gether in the battle's front. The yell raised 
by our men as they advanced against the 
Yankees was, and is, known as the " Rebel 
yell," and was as loud and prolonged as the 
" sound of many waters." Xo such noise of 
human voices was ever heard on earth before. 
It was the voice of hope and ^'alor combined, 
and was a perpetual inspiration to our lines 
while the conflict raged, helping us in the 
achievement of manj^, many victories. Xo 
such sound could emanate from the throats 
of the Yankees, who fought not as freemen, 
but as hirelino-s. 



'O 



While such scenes as these were beinof en- 



o 



acted in the front bv those who bore the 



230 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

brunt of the battle, close beliiiid were the in- 
firmary corps, with litters In hand and gath- 
ering up and bearing off to the field hospital 
in the rear the wounded as they fell, that the 
surgeons might give them such immediate 
and sufficient attention as was possible undei- 
the circumstances. And there, of all other 
places belonging to warfare, is where battle 
horrors reach their climax, the touches of 
sympathy for tlie suffering are most keenly 
felt, and the bitterest of hate is contracted 
for those who thus disabled our comrades. 

And here I will pause to say that it was 
most difficult oftentimes to tell how a wound 
wonld result, and to tell of an incident that 
occurred in connection vrith a Avounded sol- 
dier when we were in lino in front of Atlanta. 

As soon as the field hospital was estab- 
lished and the litter bearers began bringing 
in the wounded, the surgeons would give the 
first attention to those in most danger of dy- 
ing, if they had any hope of saving them, and 
those considered as not being dangerously 
w^ounded would be attended to last. Of 
course where there were more wounded than 



COXFEDEPtATE ECHOES. 231 

the surgeons could look after carefully and 
proniptly, some were left unserved until it 
was too late to do them any good, who might 
have been saved from dying if attended 
to at once. It came to be a notable fact 
that a very slight wound, remote from any 
vita] organ, often proved fatal, and that a 
most severe wound, which seemed to make 
recovery impossible, would get well. In 
every conceivable way, I might say, were 
men wounded by shot and shell from the en- 
emy; and many died of their wounds who 
it seemed ought to have recovei-ed, while 
many recovered whose wounds seemed inev- 
itably fatal. 

Of the incident to which I alluded I will 
now speak. July 22, 180-t, the day that Har- 
dee's corps whipped the Yankee's in the aft- 
ernoon on our right, our division was in the 
trenches in front of Atlanta, and so constant- 
ly under fire from the enemy, who, however, 
were not disposed to move against us, that 
we were in danger of being shot if we ex- 
posed ourselves but for a moment. Yan- 
kee shells were also passing over our heads 



232 CONFEDERATE ECHOED. 

into Atlanta, though frequently they would 
burst above us, sending many of their frag- 
ments down among us. Just over a bare hill 
to our rear were some surgeons and a portion 
of our infirmary corps, with arrangements pro- 
vided to care for and protect any that might 
be wounded on the main line. Lieut. James 
II., of the Thirty-fifth Alabama Regiment, at 
that time, as I now recall, a supernumerary 
officer, on account of the consolidation of 
the remnant of his company with another, 
was that day with those beyond the hill, ly- 
ing on the ground not far from our surgeon's 
quarters. Sometime in the forenoon a mes- 
senger came hurriedly from him to me, bear- 
ing the information that he was mortally 
wounded and in a dying condition, and the 
request that I go instantly to him and pray 
for him. The request was promptly complied 
with, though the danger was very great of be- 
ing struck by a shot from the enemy's guns in 
passing to and fro over the untimbered hill. 
I took with me Li cuts. B. M. Faris and A. F. 
Evans, my ever faithful coworkers in the reli- 
gious meetings in our command, and who felt 



COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 28:) 

the same interest in Lieut. H. then that I did. 
While lying down a bombshell had burst over 
him, and sent one of its large rugged fragments 
down through his right side just under his 
ribs, opening a great gash into the cavity, 
and severely wounding his liver. The sur- 
geon, having examined the wound, had told 
him that he could do nothing for him, and 
that he could live but a short while. He 
felt that he was not prepared for death 
and the judgment, and wanted to make such 
preparation as he could, with oiu* assistance, 
the few moments that he had to live. He 
Avas in great disti-ess of mind and anguish of 
soul, as he contemplated and spoke of his 
lost spiritual condition. He declared that 
he could easily bear his wound and the 
thought of going so soon into eternity if he 
was onl}^ at peace with God. He expressed 
great fears that, having sinned so long, his 
case was now as hopeless in a religious 
sense as it was certain that he would soon be 
dead; and he reproached himself bitterly for 
not having given his heart and life to God 
before he came to the extremity he was then 



234 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

in. With regrets and grief he was absolute- 
ly overwhehned, and was fast yielding to de- 
spair. The gloominess in his case exceeded 
any experience of the kind that ever came 
under my observationc By prayer and song 
and counsel Faris and Evans and I eagerly 
and tearfully did all that we conld to help him 
to Jesus the short while that we could remain 
with him. We knew not at what moment the 
enemy would advance upon our lines, an event 
that was hourly and hopefully looked for, 
and so wc must I'eturn to our regiment as 
quickly as we could. A pause thus in the 
midst of " war's alarms" to encourage a dy- 
ing comrade to trust for salvation in the 
compassionate Saviour of fallen humanity, 
who would not that any should perish, but 
that all should come unto him and live, was 
to Faris and Evans and me most touching and 
profitable, and we rejoiced in the opportunity 
that we had to do him all the good that we 
could. Wehadoften talked with and prayed for 
mourners in our religious meetings in camp, 
but we were never before so situated that we 
could rendei- such assistance to one supposed 



( UXFKDEJiATE ECHOES. ZOO 

to be in a dying condition. We thought we 
saw some indication of liope come to him be- 
fore we left him. As we were in the act of 
retiirnino- to the front the thoim-ht occurred 
to me to make a close examination of hi.s 
wound, and I did so. My impression was 
that it woukl kill him very soon, but that 
there vras a possibility of his recovery if he 
could get the attention that he needed, and I 
candidly told him what 1 thought of his case. 
"O no," said he, "I cannot get well under 
any circumstances with this great hole in my 
side, but if the good Lord will but spare my 
life now he shall have every moment of my 
service hereafter." Such was the pledge he 
made voluntarily to God as he in almost ut- 
ter hopelessness confronted eternity. 

After we left him he was quietly borne 
away to the hospital, and to the unutterable 
astonishment of most of those who saw his 
wound, in course of time recovered. Did he 
give his heart and life then to God, in keep- 
ing with the vow that he made in the day of 
his calamity? I have never seen him since 
the day that he was wounded, but I have oft- 



23() CONFEDEliATE ECHOES. 

ten heard from others since his recovery, and 
since the war ended, that his vow was for- 
gotten when the danger period passed. Alas! 
how often is it thus that man forgets the 
pledges that he makes to God when death is 
imminent, after there is no longer any spe- 
cial feai' of dying! 

lietnrning to the battle scenes and expe- 
riences, I have mentioned that going into 
battle was always a fearful thing to me, and 
that it was none the less so while it contin- 
ued to i*age. Life was always dear to mc, 
while abont death — physical death — there 
ever hnng a clond of gloom. My peace was 
made with God before the war was begnn, 
and was maintained throughout it, and hope, 
even in the day of battle, was ever to me as 
" an anchor of the soul, both sure and stead- 
fast, and which entered into that within the 
vail," but the shock of battle and the immi- 
nent peril in which it involved me brought 
to my mind apprehensions of being slain and 
the thought of separation from my family 
which were altogether uncomfortable. What- 
ever might have been the case with any oth- 



CONFEDEPvATE ECHOES. 287 

ers, it is a fact in mine that the sternest 
demands of duty impelled me to take up 
arms against Lincoln's invaders. 1 fought 
from principle, and subjected myself to all 
the dangers of warfare rather than be a will- 
ing bond servant of the bloodthirsty and law- 
less tyrant that we believed Abraham Lin- 
coln to be. Such was the prompting, no 
doubt, of the great body of soldiers who 
fought on the side of the South, but in the 
hour of battle they went forward with a va- 
riety of impulses and emotions. There were 
some with whom the sense of danger was so 
oppressive that they had to be literally 
pushed along as we advanced upon the ene- 
my, lieing overcome by a dread of death, 
which to them was very humiliating; patriots 
they were, nevertheless, and often fought 
like tigers when the battle was fully joined. 
There were those who moved steadily on- 
ward from the opening to the close of the 
engagement, who, though fully recognizing 
their danger almost every moment, were held 
in their places by a sense of self-respect, 
preferring rather to die on the front line than 



238 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

dishonor themselves by evading duty of so 
important a kind — the highest dnty of the 
soldier. Some despised Yankees with such a 
perfect hatred, and had such a relish for shoot- 
ing them, tliat they seemed to regard the bat- 
tlefield as but a grand opportunity for slaugh- 
tering them, seeming actually to forget tliat 
they themselves were also being sliot nt. 
Some were constitutionally intrepid, and had 
every appearance of being sti'angers to fear, 
however furious and bloody the battle might 
rage about them. The spirit of patriotism 
and principle possessed otliers, and support- 
ed them throughout all the phases of the field 
of carnage. It soon came to be a notable 
fact that the fighting men at home, common- 
ly known as " bullies," made the poorest 
show of courage on the battlefield, and that 
those who shrank from personal combat at 
home fought most heroically amidst the 
storm of bullets in war. 

There were those among us, not a great 
many, whose valor was chiefly instigated by 
a desire for promotion, and who often rushed 
heedlessly and recklessly into danger in or- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 230 

der to attract attention and come into repute 
as being extraordinarily courageons. To 
what extent their ambitious longings wevc 
gratified I have no means of knowing, but 
there is reason to believe that some who were 
thus actuated to expose their lives unneces- 
sarily who would not have been killed iC 
they had not undertaken to outdo their com- 
rades in the mere exhibitions of gallantry, 
and placed themselves in exposed positions 
when there was no need for them to have 
done so. A lieutenant in the Thirty-fifth 
Alabama Regiment had this morbid longing 
for promotion, and was wont to say that he 
intended to secure promotion for gallantry 
on the field or be slain in the undertaking. 
He was indeed a gallant young officer, and 
thoroughly imbued with the spirit of patriot- 
ism and chivalry, but he would throw him- 
self forward, and out of his proper place in 
the line, as though to urge on his men, when 
no such demonstration Avas in demand, and 
finally fell in the battle of Franklin, without 
having reached the high goal of his ambition. 
Surely battle is horrible to contemplate. 



240 COi^rEDERATE ECHOES. 

and the wonder is that men in any consider- 
able nnmbers can become nerved for such 
rag-ing conflict and remorseless butchery. 
With all the patriotism, ambition, courage, 
or what not, that men may possess, it is 
doubtless a fact tliat most of them shudder 
from apprehensions of being slain as they 
move forward into this terrible arena of car- 
nage. Some commanders bethought them- 
selves of what might be called the universal 
dread of the hoi-rors of the battlefield, and 
took advantage of it in throwing their col- 
umns with the utmost precipitancy and fury 
against the enemy. Such was unquestiona- 
bly the policy of Gen. N. B. Forrest, our most 
renowned and most successful cavalry chief- 
tain, whenever he struck the Yankees. ]^f ot 
long after the close of the war, while he was 
having built a portion of the eastern section 
of the Memphis and Little Rock railroad, I 
traveled with him on a Memphis and St. 
Francis River steamboat from Memphis to 
Madison, a few miles from where his con- 
struction camp was, and had a number of in- 
teresting convorsntious with him about his 



CONFKDEKATE ECHOES. 241 

modes of warfare. I asked him, among va- 
rious other questions, how it was that he liad 
such unitbrm success in beating the Yan- 
kees, notwithstanding he fought continually 
against such great odds. He said he con- 
sidered that men, as a rule, regarded with 
horror and consternation the field of battle, 
and that his aim was at the first onset to 
make it appear as shocking to the enemy as 
he possibly could, by throwing his entire 
force against them at once in the fiercest and 
most warlike manner possible. He would 
thus overawe and demoralize the Yankees at 
the very start, and then by a constant repe- 
tition of blows, with unabated fury, to pre- 
vent them from recovering from their con- 
sternation, he would soon have them within 
his power — killing, capturing, and driving 
them with but little difficulty. 

Many of our soldiers were not Christians, 
but there were the fewest number of them, 
if any, who were willing to give any exhibi- 
tions of wickedness during the fight, or to 
have with them any evidences of dissipation. 

If they had whisky in their canteens, it would 
16 



242 coxI'^ederatp: echoes. 

be poured out or left in the rear; and if they 
had cards in their pockets, they would be 
thrown away. They may not have often 
read the Bibles their mothers and fathers and 
sisters gave them when tliey enlisted in the 
army, but when an engagement was immi- 
nent these blessed books were slipped into 
the breast pockets of their jackets, often re- 
placing decks of cards, which they carried 
on the march and played v^^ith in camp. If 
they should be slain in the fight, it was then- 
preference to have God's word in their keep- 
ing ^^hen they fell, rather than that they 
should be found dead with cards in their pos- 
session. And quite often did the Bible be- 
come a life preserver to the soldier that had 
it in his pocket; the bullet striking that, and 
being arrested or glancing off, whicli would 
otherwise have buried itself in his body. 

It was exceedingly seldom that the com- 
mand to which I belonged fouglit ])ehind 
breastworks, but we built miles and miles of 
them in the expectation of being attacked by 
the Yankees in them, and it was remarka- 
l)le with what fj'.cilitv some of our soldiers 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 243 

could do this kind of work. We would dig 
long trenches to get into, throwing the dirt 
on the side next the enemy, using also rails 
and other timber against which to mound the 
dirt when it was so that we could. These 
were often exceedingly important for protec- 
tection against the shots of the enemy, 
though the battle be not fully joined, and 
had to be made very hin'ricdly; and it was 
then particularly that the competency of 
some of our men for such work was dis- 
played. These were not noted for timidity 
in battle particularly, but they were some- 
what famous for finding and making hiding 
places from bullets. I see before me a tall, 
athletic man of my company who belonged 
to this class carrying a cart load of rails on 
Ills shoulders and back to make a quick pro- 
tection against Yankee bullets. The dig- 
ging we did with spades and shovels fur- 
nished by the government, and with these 
our specially safety - seeking men could 
'^ bury " themselves out of reac'h of immedi- 
ate danger with astonishing rapidity. Other 
soldiers there were who seemed to have no 



244 CONFEDEllATE ECHOES. 

talent or energy or care for the work of 
fortifying, and would only go at it like some 
citizens work roads, because they were or- 
dered to do so. 

After all our trench digging and fortifying 
otherwise, we had mainly to do our fighting 
on the open field, or assault the Yankees in 
their fortifications. Had they been as read} 
to move against us as we were to advance 
upon them, our hastily constructed breast- 
works would not have deterred them to the 
extent that they did, with their outnumber- 
ing foi-ces, from bringing on the attack. It 
was nothing to their credit that they were 
constantly shying around us in our slight 
earthworks; nor that they were four years in 
doing, with their vast armies and resources, 
what they set about to do witli one stroke. 
There is certainly no room for boasting to 
the enemies of the South for what the} 
achieved, with their nearly 3,000,000 of men 
to our 600,000. 

The poisoning of some of our soldiers by 
Grant's doctors or druggists may as well be 
mentioned in this connection. He captured 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 245 

JacksoH, Miss., in Miiy, 18G3, and some of 
the drnggists there procured a lot of quinine 
for us from liis medical department before he 
left, which was in a very short while after the 
capture. AVhen we got back to Jackson 
alter he left there we procured for the sick of 
our command some of the quinine, which 
was heavily mixed with morphine. This 
note of May 23, 18G3, while we were at Jack- 
son, was made at the llnio in ray diary : " llec. 
Thompson, of our regiment, and several other 
men in our brigade are poisoned by taking 
quinine which was left in the drug stores 
here by the Yankees, and which contains a 
large amount of morphine. Two have al- 
ready died, and Ilec. looks like he cannot 
possibly live. It is horrible to think that any 
human beings will adopt siicli a mode of war- 
fare. That, combined with the purposes of 
our enemies, otherwise made manifest, con- 
stitutes them the most barbarous and wick- 
ed people on the face of the earth." It was 
understood that arsenic was also found in 
some of the quinine which others of our sur- 
geons got hold of. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Vicksburg — Some Big Shooting — In Charge of Sick 
Camp — Baton Rouge Fight — Corinth Fight, Etc. 

THE line and extent of the movements of 
that portion of the Confederate army with 
which the Thirty-fifth Alabama Regiment 
was connected have alread}^ been Inirriedly 
indicated, without pausing at each of the sev- 
eral stages of our various campaigns to note 
everything that transpired in connection with 
our movements. A number of relics of oiu- 
war experience, observation, etc., have been 
gathered up here and there as we went along, 
that seemed worthy of preservation. I now 
wish to drop back on our track again, and 
gather u]> others that I have purposely left 
till this time. 

After the evacuation of Corinth, May 29, 
1862, the first important stage that we 
reached, so far as we knew, was Vicksburg. 
(246) 



(JOXFEDERATE ECHOES. 247 

ITere tlic command icmaincd from the time 
of its aj rival, the night of June 28, nntil July 
27. The place selected for our encampment 
was two miles back from Yicksburg, in a 
beautiful cove, covered over with a dense 
carpeting of Bermuda grays, upon which we 
loved to loll and sleep whenever we were in 
camp. OjI. Robertson, then commanding 
our regiment, had his tent stretched under 
an enormous cotton wood tree, which, wlien 
the sun was in a certain position, would 
shade almost our entire encampment. The 
boughs were very large and long, and some 
of them, Ave were told, served as a gallows 
upon which a number of John A. Murrell's 
murdering and thieving gang were hung in 
other days. 

Vicksburg was then being bombarded ever 
and anon by the Yankee gunboats on the 
Mississippi River, and our business was to 
picket the river above and below the city, 
but principally above. Our encampment was 
out of reach of their shells, but most of our 
time we were on the river, and in easy range 
of them. We had licaAy batteries planted at 



248 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

Vicl^sburg, and sometimes our picket post 
was between them and the enemy's gunboats, 
the huge shells from both ways passing over 
lis, and sometimes bursting above us. The 
falling to the ground of the fragments of 
these exploded shells made a most hideous 
noise as they rushed down through the at- 
mosphere and beat their way into the ground 
about us. AVhenever the Yankees would de- 
tect our whereabouts they would be sure to 
treat us to a shelling. This we had to en- 
dure without any chance, with our small 
arms, to return the compliment, or else to 
take another position unknown to them. It 
is a most uncomfortable experience, that of 
enduring a cannonading without any chance 
to move against the battery; and this was 
what was meant by being at Vicksburg 
when we were there, so far as military opera- 
tions were concerned. 

It was also a place of flux and mosquitoes. 
A great many of our soldiers had the flux, 
which was generally very severe, and a con- 
siderable number of them died with it. 
"When on picket, the mosquitoes were as in- 



C O N F E i > K U A r !•: E C HOES. 249 

tolerable as it is possible for them to be. 
We could not have fires in the daytime to 
smoke them off, lest the enemy would see the 
smoke, and thus learn our position, nor at 
night lest they would see the light; and so, 
having located us, begin to shell us. A few 
got pieces of mosquito bar to put over their 
faces and hands, but there was but little of 
that material to be found. We could light 
them off in a measure when we were awake 
and on duty, but when we were off duty, and 
an opportunity afforded us to sleep, then it 
was that they became our diligent and invet- 
erate tormentors. They were not so bad 
back at camp, and there we could smoke 
them off with our fires, but the greater por- 
tion of the time we were out on picket. 

Our gunboat "Arkansas " came out of the 
Yazoo River, where it had been constructed, 
into the Mississippi, and down through the 
enemy's fleet to Vicksburg, Tuesday, July 
15. The Yankee commodore, knowing that 
it was coming, put his boats in position to 
sink or capture it, as he supposed; but he 
was sorry enough before the job was over 



250 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

with that he had engaged in any such under- 
taking, for two of his boats, we learned, were 
sunk in the conflict and others badly disabled 
by the "Arkansas," while the rest of the fleet 
sought safety in flight. We were not in a 
position to see the conflict, though it was no 
great distance from us, but the sound of this 
naval battle of one Confederate against many 
(about twenty, we heard) Yankee boats was 
exceedingly interesting to listen to, the thun- 
der of the heavy guns exceeding any artil- 
lery firing that we had heard up to that time; 
and as soon as we learned the result of the 
engagement we persuaded ourselves that the 
cannonading was musical in a most charming 
sense. 

The "Arkansas" suft'ered but little, and 
landed foi- slight repairs at our picket post. 
It was a strange-looking water monster, appar- 
ently made out of railroad iron, and most of 
it beneath the edge of the water. While ly- 
ing here, the second day after its arrival, the 
Yankee fleet began a fierce bombardment of 
it and us, which lasted some time; until, in- 
deed, the "Arkansas " got up steam and start- 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 251 

cd lip the river, when the Yankees immediate- 
ly ceased firing and hurried away with their 
lleet to safer waters. It was an amusing- 
scene to look upon, it having been enacted 
in full view of us. Tliose Yankees were not 
yet ready for another encounter Nvith the "Ar- 
kansas." And they were very skittish and 
watchful of their safety the rest of the time 
that we were there. 

A very serious accident occurred in the 
regiment while on picket July 23. A Yan- 
kee bombshell had fallen, without bursting, 
near Company G, the fuse having gone out. 
Jt was a very large mortar shell. Several of 
the men of tliat company got hold of it, and 
undertook to empty it, which they thought 
they did. Strangely enough, to be sure, they 
then put fire into the shell, which produced 
an explosion, by which one of the men was 
killed and several others wounded. 

July 24, we move our camp to '' four-mile 
])ridge," south of AHcksburg, on the Warren- 
ton road. Here we were in a beautiful grass 
meadow, but were without our tents, and ex- 
posed to the heaviest dev/s I ever saw. We 



252 (,'ONFEDEUATE ECHOES. 

only remained here a short while, however. A 
sick camp was temporarily established here, 
and put in my charge for the time being. 
About 12 o'clock, July 26, two ladies in a ba- 
rouche drove up near the encampment with 
some provisions for the sick. Attached to 
the large basket containing the provisions 
was a card upon which was inscribed the 
name of " Miss Mollie DeFrance." It de- 
volved upon me to meet the ladies, take the 
basket in hand, and thank Miss DeFrance 
for it. It seemed to me that it had been an 
age since I had been in the company of ladies, 
and it really embai'rassed me no little to un- 
dertake to express to them our gratitude for 
their thoughtful generosity. A nicer pre- 
pared and more ample supply of delicacies I 
have never seen in one basket, and they came 
at the most appropriate time possible. They 
were divided out with much care among the 
sick soldiers, and refreshed both their bodies 
and s])irits very much. As I remember, Miss 
DeFrance furnished the provisions, and had 
the other young lady, whose name I cannot 
recall, to come along with her as company. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 253 

Both were quite intelligent and modest, and 
thoroughly Southern in sentiment. The for- 
mer I mention in my diary as the "curly- 
haired Rebel," her hair being arranged in 
very tasty ringlets. That was July 26, 1862. 
We cannot but hope that only good fortune 
has befallen this fair benefactress of those 
sick soldiers, and her companion, all these 
years since then. 

Breckenridge's Division, to which the Thir- 
ty-fifth Alabama Regiment still belonged, was 
sent from Yicksburs: to Baton Romire to 
whip some Yankees at that place, which it 
did very effectually August 5. The full 
purpose of that movement and what was 
gained by that victory were only conjec- 
tural to those of no higher rank than I was. 
By very hard fighting in this battle the Thir- 
ty-fifth Alabama saved the gallant Third and 
Seventh Kentucky Regiments from being 
flanked by the enemy, and ever after there 
was a specially strong attachment between 
our regiment and the Kentuckians of our 
brigade. But all the regiments of our brigade 
were strongly attached to each other, and 



254 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

there was perfect mntnal confidence among 
them wlienever they moved together in line 
of battle against the enemy. 

Other movements and events than those 
heretofore mentioned need not be noted from 
hei-e on until after the battle of Corinth, Oc- 
tober 3, 4. The evening of the last day of 
the fight, our brigade, Gen, Kust command- 
ing, dropped back eight miles and camped 
for the night. The next day, Sanday, Octo- 
ber 5, and until late at night, we were har- 
assed by the Yimlvces, who seemed bent on 
cntting off our retreat or cnptnring onr wagon 
trains. It v.as tlie first liurried retreat that 
we had 3et been subjected to, and a day of ex- 
cessive weariness to us. It was at times a 
kind of running fight, but the Yankees ac- 
complished nothing that they undertook. 
Gen, Price, in front, gave them a setback at 
Tuscumbia Creek, where they wei-e trying 
to intercept us, and also at Hatchie River, 
farther on. We hurried forward to reenforce 
him at both these places, but the Yankees re- 
tired before we could reach him. Gen. Bowen 
was in the rear on the march, and succeeded 



COI^FEDERATE ECHOES. 255 

in ambushing the pursuing Yankees and cut- 
ting them badly to pieces. The probability 
is that they intended heading us ofl' at oue 
of the bridges across the above - named 
streams, and then crush us with their main 
army, which, having been largelj^ reenforced 
two days (or nights rather) previous, was 
then very much larger than ours, and follow- 
ing close upon our heels. Our commanders 
were determined not to risk a general en- 
gagement if they could avoid it, but managed 
to do the Yankees no little hurt before the 
day was over and they had called off their 
war dogs. There were, however, various re- 
ports Monda}^ and Tuesday of the approach- 
es of the enemy, and as we neared Ripley, a 
town on our route, we formed in line of battle 
for a fight, but no " blue coats " were to be 
seen. Our retreat continued to be rapid un- 
til lYednesda}', and we at last concluded that 
Van Dorn was managing things badly. In my 
diary of Tuesday I said : " We are of the opin- 
ion that Van Dorn is running us very unnec- 
essarily, and that if even the Yankees are 
trying to overtake us, which we doubt, we 



256 COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

ciiu ^\hip them." Wednesday we made a 
pushing march of over twenty miles, and 
camped on the Holly Springs road within 
eighteen miles of that place. This day v/e 
were almost destitute of rations, and our pro- 
vision wagons did not come up at night, so 
that we were indeed in a very bad fix for 
something to eat. It was the time of the year 
for sweet potatoes, and Col. Kobertson sent 
out a detail of men to procure some of them 
from the citizens. AYe got in a good supply, 
and having roasted and eaten them, we lay 
down on our pallets for the night with full 
stomachs, the first time we had had a fdling 
of anything for several days. We had a hab- 
it of giving names to our camping places gen- 
erally, and having remained here an4 eaten 
potatoes until 4 o'clock the next evening, we 
called this place " Camp Potato." 

Friday we went into Holly Springs through 
mud and rain, arriving there a short while be- 
fore dark, and taking quarters in the arsenal, 
where a number of large fires had already 
been built for ns to warm and dry by, for it 
was a very cold rnin which had fallen upon 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 257 

US. Upon the builders of those fires we 
showered many blessings. 

Our retreat from the " Mouth of Tippah," 
Miss., was an occasion which impressed it- 
self very forcibly upon us, as one of special 
weariness and disagreeableness. A battle 
was thought to be imminent several days be- 
fore we left there, owing to certain demon- 
strations of the enemy and the instructions 
that we received from time to time from our 
commanders. We left there Sunday, No- 
vember 30, 1862, at 8 o'clock at night. 
Just before leaving we were ordered to build 
up our camp fires, making them larger than 
usual. The object of this was to deceive the 
enemy as to our plans, making them believe, 
"if so be," that we had no thought of retir- 
ing from our position. We were not sus- 
pecting any such movement, but rather that 
preparations for a fight were being made, and 
were amazed when Col. Goodwin told the 
company officers to be very careful to keep 
the men in ranks; that we were on a retreat. 
We wondered why this was, and concluded 

that the enemy were in much greater force 

17 



258 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

than we were, or that we hud been outgen- 
eraled by them, the hitter opinion being the 
prevailing one among the soldiers. 

We had gone but a short distance from 
camp when it commenced raining in torrents, 
and continued to do so far into the night. 
The moon was nearly full, and made light 
enough through the clouds to enable us to 
see the general outline of the command and 
the route o\er which we marched, but we 
could not see the bad places in the road, 
which, it seemed to us, wei'e legion. We 
were constantly stepping into holes, wagon 
ruts perhaps, and stumbling against one an- 
other, or falling down in the mud and water. 
Early in the night we had to wade a deep, 
muddy creek, which had been much swollen 
by the heavy rain, and which really present- 
ed a very frightful appearance. The moon 
went down just before day, and not till then 
did our night march end. We then built up 
fence rail fires, there being no other chance 
for fire, and took a short nap on the wet 
ground, which was a very sweet rest to us. 
,As to keeping the men in ranks on such {i 



CO>.' FEDERATE ECHOES. 259 

march as that, it was altogether out of* the 
question. They could not but fall out, and 
pick their own way to get along with any 
degree of facility. 

After our brief rest we resumed our march 
and went nine miles below Oxford on the 
Coffeeville road, hi my diary I say: "Last 
night and to-day is the severest march we 
have ever had." I say furtheimorc: "Now 
1 know that rest is sweet." The general sal- 
utation of the men to each other next day 
was: "How many times did you fall down 
last night? " The frequency with which they 
fell, and the manner in which they staggered 
along and tumbled down through the night 
was a source of merry conversation and jest- 
ing among the men, which supported us no 
little on our marcli during the day. 

Onward we went, without particular hurry, 
halting more or less each day and camping 
every night, until we reached Grenada Sun- 
day, December 7. We formed into line of bat- 
tle several times on the route^ with the expec- 
tation of engaging the enemy; and we were 
required to keep our men in ranks from day 



260 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

to day, so that we could be ready for battle 
in a moment at any time. On December 3 
Gen. Lovell notified our immediate command 
that we might be ordered some distance back 
to check the advance of the Yankees, which 
did not become necessary, however, and that 
day Gen. Price beat them back in the vicin- 
ity of Colfeeville, capturing- six pieces of 
their artillery. lYe went regularly into camp 
near Grenada December 8, 1862, and remained 
there till January 31, 1863, when we went to 
Jackson, from wiiich place we started on our 
fall campaign September 11, 1862. 

AYe went from Tangipahoa to Jackson 
August 28, and on the next day I noted in 
my diai'v: "Arrangments are being made 
while at this place to clothe and pay the sol- 
diers, preliminary, as is believed, to a gen- 
eral northern movement." Such was the im- 
pression that got out among the soldiers, and 
when we left there September 11 we went 
northward, but our operations did not extend 
beyond ]S"orthern Mississippi, except that one 
day we chased the Yankees to Bolivar, Tenn., 
and at Grenada we rounded up. 



CONKKDERATE ECHOES. 261 

As has heretofore been stated, we were at 
Port Hudson, La., from March 3 to April 5, 
1863. This place, on the Mississippi River, 
was strongly fortified, and commanded the 
mouth of Red River, out of which our sup- 
plies were largely brought. As our batteries 
at yicksburg were keeping the enemy's gun- 
boats above there, so were our batteries at 
this place keeping them below here, so that 
we had control of the river between these 
two points, thought to be of considerable ad- 
vantage to us. The Yankees were anxious 
to command the whole river, all of which they 
had except this portion of it, and there was 
I'eason to believe that they were arranging 
to move in force against Port Hudson when 
we were ordered there to reen force the troops 
already there. Yankee Gen. Banks was 
collecting a large land force at Baton Rouge, 
l)elow here, to cooperate with the naval force, 
which was being constantly strengthened, 
and our business was to withstand the land 
force when it came. 

As we approached Amite River, February 
27, on our way to Port Hudson, the tedium 



262 COXFEDEIIATE ECHOES. 

of the march was much relieved by a wading 
frolic that we had across n broad slough, 
much swollen b}'' the heavy rains of the day 
before, just before reaching the river bridge. 
The water was too deep for the wagons to 
pass through without coming high up in their 
beds; and the men were ordered to take out 
of the wagons, and carry over on their 
shoulders, such things as would be damaged 
by getting wet. Back and forth they yell- 
ingly went from bank to bank of the slough, 
until the wagons were sufficiently unloaded 
to pass over; a number of men, however, 
thoughtlessly carrying over first their pots 
and ovens, which were really needed in the 
wagon beds to keep them from floating, and 
which of course would not be damaged by 
water, instead of their bedding, clothing, etc. 
This performance of theirs caused much 
merriment among their wading comrades, 
and so made the labor less tiresome to them. 
Then came the fun of getting the wagons 
over, which were then for the first time being- 
pulled by oxen; and fun it was, as soldiers 
went on either side of them to keep their 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 203 

heads in the right direction, and of the wag- 
ons to keep the beds from floating off, pro- 
pelling the unwilling teams forward into the 
deep water, which they must needs swim in 
part, until they had crossed them to the other 
bank. Such "gee-haws" and " wo-comes " 
never rang out on that atmosphere before, 
and no alternative was left to those oxen but 
to go forward, however incomprehensible to 
them may have been the commands of the 
numerous and boisterous teamsters. The 
oxen may not have enjoyed this procedure, 
but the men did; and onward we took our 
march with more elastic step because of its 
occurrence. 

During our stay at Port Hudson the Yan- 
kees made their biggest eftbrt to capture it 
Saturday night, ^larch 14, the bombardment 
from their navy beginning about 11 o'clock. 
The Third Kentucky and Thirty-fifth Ala- 
bama Regiments were formed in line of 
battle, one to support the other alternately 
as necessity required, some distance in front 
of the fortifications, to hold in check and 
harass the approaching land force under 



264 COKEEDEJIATE ECHOES. 

Gen. Banks until the time came for ns to fall 
back to our places in the trenches. Tlie 
co-operative plans of the Yankees did not 
work well for several reasons, one of which 
was that Banks did not come to time to ac- 
complish his part of the joint undertaking. 

I say in my diary of that day: "The en- 
emy's land force are said to be close at hand, 
and it is thought that there will certainly be 
a general fight to-morrow." Possibly Banks 
was waiting for daylight to come, and until 
the fleet did what it was to do, but failed in 
the undertaking. To the Confederates the 
occasion was a most interesting and memo- 
rable one, though the enemy's shot and shell 
fell thickly about us for some time. It was 
the purpose of the Yankee Commodore to 
overcome our batteries with those on his 
boats, so that he could pass a portion of his 
fleet by them and above Port Hudson, so as 
to gain an important advantage of us. With 
this undertaking accomplished, he could co- 
operate beautifully with Banks when the day 
broke. 

It was the heaviest artillery thunder that 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 265 

we ever heard, transcending by far the naval 
engagement between the "Arkansas " and the 
Yankee fleet above Yicksburg. Being as 
much exposed to it as we were made it de- 
cidedly terrific, though our admiration of its 
grandeur raised us above the fear of danger. 
We could track the shells by their burning 
fuses, and the atmosphere was crowded with 
them, going to and fro, and flying high and 
low. A ghire of light would accompany ev- 
ery shell explosion, many of which often oc- 
curred at the same time, and in every con- 
ceivable position these explosions occurred. 
Frequently the shell would not explode until 
it had sunk itself deep down in the soft, sandy 
earth; then out of the ground would come its 
boom and blaze, as though it had been shot 
from below. In attempting to pass our bat- 
teries one of their boats was captured and 
one was set on fire. The latter floated back 
down the river, afl'ording us a degree of de- 
lightful entertainment, until day began to 
dawn, which cannot be told. It had on it a 
magazine and many piles of shells, and of 
course the men on it forsook it as soon as 



2i66 COXl^EDElJATE ECHOED. 

they could. The light of the fire was plainly 
Been as the current carried the burning boat 
leisurely downstream, and when it reached 
one of the piles of shells the light and thun- 
der of the combined explosions would excite 
our unmeasured admiration. The length of 
time bctAveen these explosions was exactly 
enough to keep up and enhance more and more 
our interest in the charming pyrotechnic pro- 
cedure. It effectually cleared the river of all 
other Yankee boats, which, under a full head 
of steam, sought safety in precipitate flight. 
The whole performance looked as though 
the Yankees had gotten up an entertainment 
for us of the most pleasing character, and 
were doing their utmost to make it as much 
so as possible. Finally, the fire reached the 
magazine on the boat, and produced an ex- 
plosion which made the gi-ound tremble where 
we were, and gave us almost the light of noon- 
day just as day was on the eve of breaking. 
Then the curtain dropped, and that charming- 
nocturnal naval entertainment came to a close. 
What became of Yankee Doodle Banks, 
with his cooperating land force? Tn my di- 



. CON"FE]>ERATE ECIIOKS. 267 

ary of Tuesday following this record is made: 
" Gen. Eiist, commanding our brigade, sent 
for his regimental commanders to-day to go 
with him down on the Baton Kouge road, over 
wliich Banks came and went, and they went 
within eleven miles of that place. ( -ol. Good- 
win, of our regiment, says the Yankees had a 
real Bull Kun stampede. They thought their 
burning boat, as it floated down stream, was 
our fleet in pursuit of theirs. They also 
heard that Stonewall Jackson was at Tangi- 
pahoa with sixty thousand troops, with which 
to reenforce us. The whole Yankee army 
had started up here with everything needful 
for a big fight. Consternation took hold of 
them, and they made a most precipitate re- 
treat back to Baton Kouge, destroying many 
ambulances and wagons in their haste lest 
they fall into our hands, as they feared, and 
tearing up the bridges behind them to retard 
our supposed pursuit of them. The road w^as 
strewn with numberless fragments of broken 
army vehicles of various sorts and sizes, to- 
gether with many knapsacks, blankets, and 
guns that had been throwni down to facilitate 



268 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

speed. Such was the farce being enacted 
by Banks while we wxre wondering why he 
was so slow to press upon our lines with his 
devouring hosts. 

Madam Rumor, the only female who went 
along with our army, came to our camj) 
March 25, as was her daily wont, and in- 
formed us that Abe Lincoln, the King of 
Xortherndom, having become disgusted with 
the feebleness of Banks and his army as war- 
riors, had signified his intention to remove 
the entire Yankee force from Baton Rouge, 
and replace it by 15,000 Yankee women, 
with which to take Port Hudson. Mrs. Ru- 
mor did not tell us who would lead these 
feminine warriors, of masculine persuasions, 
against us, but the presumption was that 
Old Abe purposed commanding them in per- 
son, for the gratification that he would expe- 
rience in making Banks feel as diminutive as 
possible for not being able to do with a large 
army of men what he could do with a com- 
paratively small army of women. 

There were plenty of female hyenas in hu- 
man form north of the Ohio River in those 



cox FEDERATE ECHOES. 269 

days, as we all believed, whose hatred for the 
South was more than Satanic, if possible, and 
doubtless Lincoln could have gathered to- 
gether his 15,000 of them in a moment or two 
after notice was given that he wanted them 
for militai'j service in Louisiana. That they 
would also have exploded the Confederate 
garrison at Port Hudson, in one way or an- 
other, we stood not in doubt at the time. 

The evening after the bombardment, as we 
started out to camp, which was then in a 
magnolia forest, there began to fall a tre- 
mendous rain, which soon came down upon 
us like a waterspout, and presently the 
" heavenly artillery " began all about us in 
such rapid and terrific valleys " as to put to 
shame " as I say in my diary, '' the bombard- 
ment of last night." The wind was very 
strong also, breaking to pieces the magnolia 
trees in every direction and blowing one 
down now and then, causing us to feel that 
we were in a very insecure position, though 
out of range of Yankee bullets. We gener- 
ally looked for a ''thunder storm" after a 
heavy battle, especially when there was 



270 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

much artillery firing, but this was the most 
complete success in that line that we had at 
any time. 

Quite a number of Yankee deserters came 
into our lines at Port Hudson during our 
stay there, and gave as their excuse for 
leaving their army that they would not sa- 
lute negro officers. They said they loved 
the Union as well as ever, but that they did 
not enlist in the interest of negroes. They 
were out and out against negro equality, and 
much more so against negro supremacy. 
There were doubtless many such soldiers in 
the ]!^orthern army, so far as their feelings 
toward the negroes were concerned, and who, 
though they woidd not desert, regretted that 
they had ever enlisted. 

The Yankee authorities expected to 
strengthen their armies very greatly by arm- 
ing our negroes against us; but, although 
they enlisted a large number into their serv- 
ice, they proved to be very poor fighters, and 
became a source of weakness rather than of 
strength. The whole negro population would 
have been aruied aiul turned loose upon th§ 



C02^^FEDERATE ECHOES. 271 

unarmed citizens and women of the Southern 
Confederacy, if the negroes had been willing 
to rise up against them, and the Yankees 
could have had an opportunity of supplying 
them with arms. Such was the disposition 
of our enemies toward our Southland, as was 
made evident in too many ways to leave a 
doubt of it in the mind of any intelligent 
Southerner; and it was doubtless expected 
by them that Lincoln's emancipation procla- 
mation would be the occasion of a general 
negro insurrection, and the wholesale butch- 
ery of unprotected Southern whites. 

While at Port Hudson our sugar rations 
were unusually large, we being in, or adja- 
cent to, a sugar-j3roducing region. We had 
more, indeed, than we could well use for eat- 
ing purposes. To get as much benefit of it 
as we could, having made so-called coffee 
out of one thing and another for a long time, we 
finally made coftee out of sugar. It was ex- 
tremely seldom that genuine coffee was seen 
in the South anywhere at that time, and the 
housekeepers in every direction had fallen 
upon various expedients to furnish themselves 



272 COISTFEDEIIATE ECHOES. 

with coftee substitutes, which went by tlie 
name of coffee. Parched rye, ground and 
boiled, came into more general use than any 
other substitute. Parched wheat was also 
used a good deal, and had a much more 
pleasant odor than the rye " coffee " had. 
Sweet potato " coffee " came into use aftei- 
the others did, and became quite popular. 
They were cut up into little pieces about the 
size of a grain of corn and dried in the sun. 
These pieces were then parched and ground, 
and otherwise prepared as coffee is. This 
was a very pleasant beverage, and had rath- 
er more the appearance of good coffee than 
the others did. In the army we made our 
coffee out of parched meal mainly. At Port 
Hudson we tried parched sugar, which was 
the best of all substitutes that I had ever 
seen; the color and odor and flavor resem- 
bling coffee in a surprising manner. Of 
course we dropped this substitute Avhen we 
left the sugar region. 



CHAPTER XIY. 



Baker's Creek Fight, Etc. — Other Movements of the 
Army — ^Twenty-seveDth and Thirty-fifth Ala- 
bama Regiments Recruit — Off for Georgia. 

WE did not know what was contemplated 
by our chief commanders when we 
were marched away from Port Hudson April 
5, 1863; but the next time we felt the Yan- 
kees on the field was at the battle of Ba- 
ker's Creek, Miss., the 16th of the next 
month. When we did not have positive in- 
formation as to where we were going, and 
the object of our movement, when we were 
ordered away from a place we would do a 
great deal of conjecturing on the subject, 
and dig up, one way and another, a good 
many facts upon which to base our conclu- 
sions. Sometimes we would hit upon the 
plans of the generals, and sometimes we 
would miss them, but we would be sure to 
develop a campaign of some sort in our minds, 
IS (273) 



274 co:^;^^EDERATE echoes. 

and I think we oftener hit than missed, as T 
now recall, what was aimed at by our com- 
manders. "We also had a way of passing 
judgment upon, to us, unsatisfactory move- 
ments, and crediting oin-selves right often 
with better generalship than those under 
whose orders we were acting. And to this 
day I am clearly of the belief that there were 
privates not a few in our ami}' who could 
have done better as leaders than some who, 
at times, were in the lead; albeit, as a rule, 
our officers were the best that the world ever 
jjroduced. 

After we had entered upon the march from 
Port Hudson we soon learned that we Avere 
going as far, at least, as Jackson, Miss., 
but we attached no particular importance 
to that fact, as that place was gener- 
ally on our way to somewhere else; the 
important question with us was, Where will 
we go when we get to Jackson? Somehow, 
r cannot now remember, the impression got 
into our minds that we were on our way to 
Tennessee; and suie enough that was where 
we were ooinof. As has been heretofore 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 275 

stated, we were ordered back when we 
reached Chattanooga, and were soon at Jack- 
son and in the Big BUick region again. 

The battle of Baker's Creek was fought 
very soon after the first visit of the Yankees 
to Jackson. Grant had managed to get his 
army on the east side of the Mississippi Riv- 
er below Yicksburg, and made his way to 
Jackson with but little difficulty, only being 
slightly hindered by a comparatively very 
small force, under Gen. Bo wen, at one point 
on his march. It seemed that Gen. Pember- 
ton, then in command of that department, 
could not divine what Grant's designs were, 
and so did not undertake to intercept him on 
his way to Jackson. 

I presume that Grant had then no particular 
lai" use for Jackson, only for the enhancement 
of his own greatness, the liallelujali effect it 
would certainly produce in the military and 
civil domains of Abe Lincoln, and the possi- 
bly dejiressing im])ression it would make 
upon our armies and the people" of the South 
generally. In some ears it v/ould sound like 
a very big thing for a Yankee army to occu- 



276 COXFEOEKATE ECHOES. 

py the capital of the great secession state of 
Mississippi, and home of the President of the 
Southern Confederacy. ^' The backbone of 
the rebellion is now broken," would be the 
ringing" proclamation that would be made 
throughout the whole extent of Lincolndom, 
and the recruiting of the Northern armies 
would set in afresh, that the spoils might not 
all be gathered up before the}^, the new re- 
cruits, could get a grab at our possessions. 

Having marched into Jackson, Grant then 
set his face toward Yicksburg, and at Ba- 
ker's Creek we disputed his way as best we 
could with an insufficient force of three di- 
visions under Pemberton; the division com- 
manders being Stephenson, Bowen, and Lo- 
ring. After a pretty much all day fight, of 
greater or less severity, and more or less gen- 
eral from time to time, we Avere ordered late 
in the evening to fall back in the direction of 
Yicksburg. 

Among those who fell that day was Adju- 
tant George Hubbard, of our regiment, a 
very particular friend of mine. He was shot 
through the head and borne by the littei- 



COXFEDEPtATE ECHOES. 277 

bearers from the field just as wc vrei'c about 
to change our position for the last time be- 
fore retiring'. They continued to bear him 
along, dividing themselves into two reliefs^, 
in the hope of getting his remains where 
they could be shipped to his family in Korth 
Alabama; but soon night came on as the re- 
treating march continued, with the enemy 
pressing close upon us; and the litter bearers, 
becoming too much fatigued to carry their 
precious burden farther, laid the lifeless form 
of George Hubbard in a hole which the torn- 
up roots of a fallen tree had made, just as he 
had fallen in battle, and pulled the dirt over 
him with their hands and knives and sticks. 
This I learned from John ITudgins, one of 
the litter bearers and a member of my com- 
pany. Did ever a soldier have a more hon- 
orable burial? 

It was understood among us just before 
the battle was begun that Gen. Joseph E. 
Johnston had arrived at Canton with two di- 
visions of the Army of Tennessee, and that 
he had sent a courier through the previous 
night to Pemberton wath instructions not 



2T8 roXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

to make a fight with Grant with his inade- 
quate force, and to join armies as quickly as 
possible with him at Canton. It w^as also 
understood that the division commanders, and 
especially Gen. Loring, urged Gen. Pcmber- 
ton to give lieod to Gen. Johnston's instruc- 
tions, but that Pemberton " took the bit be- 
tween his teeth," and determined to make 
the fight upon his own judgment and at all 
hazards. To have drawn off his army just 
then from Grant's front, in keeping with 
Johnston's plans, would have been to have 
given away Vicksburg, to be sure; but fol- 
lowing his own counsels, he gave away on 
the 4th of Jul}^ following both Yicksburg 
and his army, Loring's Division excepted. 

Loring, having determined not to regard 
Pemberton's order to fall back to Big Black 
bridge and Yicksburg, determined when the 
Baker's Creek fight was over to take his di- 
vision to Jackson, if i)ossible, and report to 
Johnston, who was not far above there and 
near Canton. We had been on our feet 
pretty much all day, and had made a very 
rapid movement for some distance from right 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 270 

to left on the line but a short while before the 
day was lost, and so were very weary when 
night came on; but, for all that, we begun 
our march to Jackson as night came on, and 
continued in motion until nearly 6 o-'clock 
the next evening, resting only a moment or 
two at a time, with unusually long intervals 
between the rests. It was very severe on us 
— being thirty-six consecutive hours on our 
feet — but the movement was necessary for 
our safety. The enemy harassed us for a 
time, and tried to head us off, but failed to do 
us any hurt. On such a march as this was 
there were always many stragglers, as we 
called them — men who dropped out of the 
ranks to rest, and so fell behind the moving- 
col umn. In one instance the Yankee cav- 
alry rushed upon our rear, doubtless to throw 
the column into confusion that they might 
overcome us, but our stragglers threw them- 
selves into line of battle and beat them at 
their own game, killing several and taking a 
number of prisoners. Loring said he had the 
best stragglers in the world, and that he 
wanted no better rear guard than the^^ were. 



280 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

After the first day of our march we had no 
further trouble with the Yankees. 

When starting- on this retreat we were 
taken across fields and through the woods in 
a southeastern direction, aiming for Crystal 
Springs, below Jackson, taking this circuit- 
ous route because there w^as no direct way 
open to us. We carried our artillery as far 
as w^e could; but when darkness had fully 
come on, and we w^ere marching through 
roadless woods, it had to be left. The wag- 
ons were with the rest of Pemberton's army, 
and were soon shut up in Vicksburg, to be- 
come the property of Grant before long. 
To be without our wagons was to be with- 
out our supplies of every sort, excejDt 
what we ourselves carried; but in our case at 
this time we were unusually destitute, having 
thrown pretty much all of our luggage in the 
wagons in anticipation of the fight, many of 
the men putting their coats and jackets in 
the wagons also. Besides the guns and car- 
tridge boxes, with only the cartridges that 
were left over after the fight, the men had 
nothing but their haversacks, which con- 



COXFEDEllATE ECHOES. 281 

tained but a small remnant of their rations 
for the day of the fight, and then* canteens. 
In a very little while every crumb of our pro- 
visions was consumed, and there was no 
chance to supply ourselves with anything 
from the surrounding country until the 
danger line of our march had been passed; 
and after that it required much time for the 
commissary to hunt up supplies of food and 
issue it out in rations. We necessarily did 
long fasting, but the men were not demoral- 
ized in any sense; for they had all confidence 
in the leadership of Gen. Loring, to whom 
they were also very strongly attached. 

When we began to gather in supplies we 
were put to some trouble about cooking 
them, especially the bread, as our cooking 
utensils, such as they were, were in our wag- 
ons. In making our meal into dough, with 
water and salt, our mess used hickory bark 
as a tray, but some of the men used their 
hats. Of course we either had to make " ash 
cakes," or spread the dough on a piece of 
bark, or plank when it could be got, and 
hold it to the fire until it was baked. 



282 coinFKdeeate e(;hoes. 

We reached Jackson sliortl}'' after noon 
May 20, and marched on through to our 
camp, five miles above there on the Canton 
road. As we marched along the street, 
])uckets of water were brought us by the cit- 
izens, who also handed us large quantities of 
the best qualit}' of chewing tobacco. 

The Yankees, ever faithful to their spite- 
ful and unscrupulous methods of warfare, had 
destroyed much property by fire and other- 
>vise, and insulted the citizens of Jackson 
without stint. The Jacksonians never loved 
Kebel soldiers so well before, as they did aft- 
er the}^ had had some experience with blue- 
coated Yankees. 

From the time that Loring's Division re- 
])()rted to Johnston after the battle of Baker's 
Creek until the fall of A^icksburg it was un- 
derstood among the rank and iile of our com- 
mand, as has alread}- been indicated, that our 
movements in the Big Black region had ref- 
erence to the release, if possible, of Gen. 
Pemberton from the web which Grant was 
gradually weaving about hi in in the Vicks- 
burg trap. Quickly following the surrender 



cox KKJ^i. KATE ECHOES. 28)5 

of Pciiibertoii were the battles and skirmish- 
es at Jackson, and then the quiet retreat of 
our army along- the line of the Soutliern rail- 
road as far as Morton. In winter quarters 
at Canton next, and from there to DemopoHs, 
Ala., from which point the Twenty-seventh 
and Thirty-fifth Alabama Regiments were 
sent to ^^orth Alabama on a recruiting expe- 
dition before becoming incorporated into the 
Army of Tennessee, under Gen. Johnston, in 
Georgia. These two regiments were raised 
in the section of the State to which they were 
ordered, and gathered up quite a number of 
recruits before leaving there f )r Georgia. 

During the time that we were on this re- 
cruiting expedition in North Alabama there 
occurred a military incident, in which we 
were " party of the first part," and some Yan- 
kees "party of the second part," and which 
was exceedingly pleasing to us, though alto- 
gether uncomfortable to them. We got in- 
forniation, while in the vicinity of Tuscum- 
bia, that some Yankees were camping on INIr. 
Jack Peters's premises, north of the Ten- 
nessee River, and not a great way from the 



281 CONiEDEEATE ECHOES. 

river, though I forget the exact distance, and 
Cols. Jackson and Ives determined to bag 
them, if they could, with the portions of their 
regiments that were then in camp, less than 100 
men. Jackson commanded the Twenty-sev- 
enth and Ives the Thirty-iifth Regiment, and 
the former was senior colonel. The evening 
of AjDril 12, 1861, we marched to Tuscumbia 
Landing, opposite an island in the river, and at 
sundown we began crossing in two ferryboats, 
one of which was small and indifferent, over 
to the island. The boats then had to go 
around to the other side of the island, and 
take us to the north bank of the river, and it 
took them till midnight to do so. They were 
so long in going around that we feared some 
accident had befallen them, and that our ex- 
pedition would explode in its incipiency; in- 
deed, having seen some rockets go up from 
where we supposed the Yankee pickets w^ere, 
we became afraid that our movement was 
known to them, and that they were signaling 
their main force to cut us off. Finally, how- 
ever, we were over the river, and after climb- 
ing up a high, steep, rugged bluff bank, we 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 285 

went as quietly as we could across the open 
fields to where Mr. Peters lived, and in whose 
barn lot the Yankees were camped. A short 
distance from where they were, we formed in 
line of battle, and rushed upon them, captur- 
ing them with the utmost ease, only two or 
three rounds being fired, occasioned by the 
Yankee sentinel shooting off his gun. They 
were on their pallets in the lot, except some 
that were in the barn and in the family resi- 
dence, and their horses were haltered in the 
fence corners, stables, etc. It was but the 
work of a moment, and we had the whole 
" lay out " bulked together, and under guard. 
It was Company G, of the IS^inth Ohio Cavalry, 
and known as the "White Horse Company," 
all the men being mounted on white or gray 
horses. It was a decidedly healthjMooking 
lot of Yankees and horses. There were also 
some very good beef cattle and mules along. 
It was nearly day when we made this cap- 
ture, and it was very important for our safe- 
ty that we get to the south side of the river 
again as soon as possible. This we did with- 
out molestation from the enemy from any oth- 



286 COXFEDEHATE ECHOES. 

er quarter, carrying with us a good supply 
of Yankees, horses, mules, cattle, guns, sa- 
bers, saddles, etc. I relieved the bugler of 
his bugle, which is still kept in the family as 
an army relic. A fine carbine and accouter- 
ments and pair of spurs I also took, but have 
since lost. 

It seemed that in our hurry to get back 
across the river we were about to go away 
without the captain, when Col. Ives learned 
that he and or.e or two other officers were 
qnarteied in the family residence. Taking a 
small guard with him. Col. Ives, lantern in 
hand, rushed into the room where they were, 
finding them still asleep, notwithstanding 
what had just transpired in the barn lot. He 
aroused them from their slumbers and 
dreams of conquest and Rebel scalps to the 
wakeful consciousness of the fact that they 
were in the gentle grasp of chivalrous vSouth- 
rons. The captain made the Masonic sign of 
distress, thinking that his life was in imme- 
diate peril. Col. Ives answered him that he 
was in no danger of personal violence, but 
that his presence was needed instanter with- 
in the Rebel lines. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 287 

While in Korth Alabama, quite a number 
of ns who Avere members of the Bnford 
Lodge of Masons, for which a special army 
dispensation had been granted, took the 
Chapter and several side degrees at Court- 
land, where the Chapter was of which Mr. 
Baker was High Priest. We regarded this 
as a rare opportunity of advancing in Mason- 
ry, and Mr. Bakei-, a very thorough Mason, in 
assisting us in our preparation for the sever- 
al degrees, which liad to be taken in unusual- 
ly quick succession, as we were not long in 
Courtland. Besides taking the Chapter de- 
grees myself, I also took the following side 
degrees, conferred by Mr. Baker: Monitor, 
Knight of Constantine and Holy Virgin. 
These last were taken April 19. The Chap- 
ter degrees — Mark Master, Past ISIaster, Most 
Excellent INfaster, and Royal Arch — were ta- 
ken April 21 and 22. 

We enjoyed our army Masonry very much, 
and frequently had meetings of our Lodge. 
Capt. Martin was our Worshipful Master, and 
could conduct the work of the Lodge as well 
as any one I ever saw. We could alwavs 



288 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

get the use of a Masonic Hall when we were 
camped near where one v/as, and the local 
members took special delight in meeting 
with us; the war, however, had scattered 
most of the Lodge members. 

It was a very frequent occurrence with 
wounded soldiers on both sides, who were 
Masons, to give the signal of distress, and 
doubtless it often secured help when it could 
not have been otherwise obtained. Yankees 
and Rebels were on common ground when 
they met as Masons. Of the Yankees, we 
learned that a great many of them joined the 
^fasons upon their enlistment in the army, 
for the protection and attention it might af- 
ford them when taken prisoners by us, or 
when left wounded on the battlefield after 
their line had been driven back. If there 
were Southern soldiers who were thus moved 
to become Masons, it never came to my 
knowledge. 

Before leaving ^N'orth Alabama for Geor- 
gia a short leave of absence was granted to 
these regiments to visit their homes, which 
were near at hand, and procure a much-need- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 289 

ed supply of clothing, shoes, etc. This 
would have been done when we first reached 
there but for the threatening- attitude of the 
Yankees beyond the Tennessee River from 
us, which made it necessary for us to keep 
together, and be ready for whatever move- 
ment might become necessary, to fight or to 
retire. It looked indeed for awhile as if we 
were going to have a considerable interview 
with the Yankees, and Col. Jackson received 
orders from military headquarters to gather 
up and take command of all the soldiers in 
jSTorth Alabama for that purpose, but we had 
no collision with them, except that we rescued 
the " White Horse Cavalry " at Peters's barn 
from the arms of Morpheus into our own em- 
brace. They hindered us, however, in the 
ready accomplishment of our purposes of re- 
cruiting and furnishing the regiments; so 
that when we reached Georgia active hostil- 
ities had already set in there, and our main 
army had fallen back from Dalton. 

To the military events that transpired in 
our command after our incorporation into 

the Army of Tennessee I have already briefly 
19 



290 CONFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

alluded. On the Kennesaw line, June 20, 
1864, the Twenty-seventh, Thirty-fifth, and 
Forty-ninth Alabama Regiments were con- 
solidated into one, on account of the losses 
that had been sustained in each of these, and 
I was assigned to duty in ComiJanies C and 
G, consolidated, of the Thirty-fifth Alabama. 

Whatever fell to these noble men, in their 
turn to do, on the field or elsewhere, they did 
with all promptness and zest; and they were 
always looked to by the commanding gener- 
als to bring up their part of the line with as 
much confidence as they did to any other 
troops; nor were these expectations ever dis- 
a23pointed. 

Our northward movement through Geor- 
gia and into Xorth Alabama after the evacu- 
ation of Atlanta was characterized by a num- 
ber of interesting incidents, a few of which 
I will name. 

There wei-e quite a number of Yankee 
garrisons captured by our troops, and among 
them the one at Dalton, comj^osed mostl}^ of 
negro soldiers, about one thousand in num- 
ber, who had been recently armed and reen- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOE:?. 291 

forced by the Yankees. Of course they 
were commanded by white officers. These 
negroes declared with great earnestness and 
feeling when captured that the Yankees 
forced them into service, and when our troops 
charged them in their fortifications they of- 
fered no resistance whatever. They were 
bnt too glad to surrender to Southern sol- 
diers, and thus be relieved of Yankee domi- 
nation, of which they had already had too 
much. They turned their guns over to us as 
quickly as they could, eagerly calling our 
attention to the fact that they wei-e perfect- 
ly clean inside, as evidence that they had not 
been fired oflP. And indeed there was the 
complete absence of the smut of burnt pow- 
der in their new and beautiful Springfield 
rifles. Only one negro's gun had been fired 
oflP, which was accidental and did no harm. 

In what we supposed was a feint on Deca- 
tur, Ala., October 26-28, our regiment suf- 
fered a great deal. As we approached this 
place, which was strongly fortified, our reg- 
iment was the advance guard of the army, and 
Companies B and D the advance guard of 



292 CON^FEDEKATE ECHOES. 

the regiment. These two companies waded 
Flint River early on the morning of October 
26, after we had had a dark, rainy, muddy 
before-day march, and stood picket beyond it 
nntil the pontoons could be put down for the 
balance of the troops to pass over, and then 
we were thrown forward to skirmish with 
the Yankees. They were cavalry and they 
soon came to view, but scarcely offered us 
any resistance. By a little strategem we 
drew them into an ambush which we had 
formed, and would have effectually ruined 
them had not about half our guns failed to 
fire from having been rained on so mnch after 
they were loaded. As it was, a number of 
saddles were emptied, and the coat tails of 
the Yankess not shot spread straight out be- 
hind them, as they beat about the hastiest 
retreat that I had ever witnessed. The scene 
was actually ludicrous, and we could not but 
yell them on with hearty bursts of laughter, 
albeit we felt disappointed that we had not 
brought down the last one of them. 

At this juncture our entire regiment was 
formed into a skirmish line for the brigade. 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 293 

and approaching \'ery close to the fortifica- 
tioiiB around Decatur, we were ordered to lie 
down and await further orders. A battery 
of our field artiller}^ was planted in our im- 
mediate rear, and a duel engaged in with the 
Yankee heavy guns until night set in, there 
being no little sprinkling of musketry in the 
meanwhile. Our position was an exceedingly 
exposed one, and Ave suffered the loss, in 
killed and wounded, of some of our best men. 
In my diary I make special mention of" Yv^ill- 
iam Pettus, of my company, as brave a boy 
as ever fought for freedom," who had his leg 
fractured by a musket ball; and of "poor 
Marion Harlan, a Christian man and gallant 
soldier of Company C," who was instantly 
killed while in a recumbent position by a 
solid cannon shot entering his shoulder and 
passing lengthwise through his body. 

Other casualties occurred at other times 
and in other commands, though not generally 
of a very serious nature for war times, until 
we drew off from Decatur, October 29, and 
went to Tuscumbia to make arrangements for 
crossing the Tennessee River, and going 
forward to Nashville. 



CHAPTER XY. 



My First Furlough. 

THROUGHOUT the war, when the sit- 
uation of our army favored it, a system 
of furloiighing the soldiers was to a limited 
extent employed by the military anthori- 
ties, whereby a few men at a time and in 
turn, from the several companies or regi- 
ments, were permitted to visit their homes 
now and then for a brief period. These 
furloughs were usually for ten, twenty, or 
thirty days, and sometimes longer, accord- 
ing as the homes of the men were near 
to or remote from the army, it being 
designed that there should be equality 
among them as to the number of days they 
could actual]}^ be with their families, aside 
from the length of time required on the 
route going and coming. 

It was necessarily more difficult for a 
soldier to procure a furlough on some oc- 
casions than on others, owing to the great- 
(294) 




KEY. AXD MUS. A. T. (^UODI.OE. 
May 8. lOOo. 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 295 

er or less importance for the men to be 
at their places for military service. It of 
course would not do to permit them to 
leave their posts of duty in the midst of 
a vigorous and important campaign, or on 
the eve of a battle, but there were times 
when hostilities were not very active, and 
when nothing would be lost to the efficien- 
cy of the army by the absence of a few 
men at a time, and for a short while. 

To procure a furlough, except when it 
was given by merely drawing for it under 
certain orders, as was sometimes the case, 
a very systematic procedure was neces- 
sary. Such military regulations as this, 
which involved a great deal of form, we 
were accustomed to call '' red tape " of the 
West Point variety. Some soldiers were 
very harsh in their criticisms of this fea- 
ture of army management, but they were 
such generally as were averse to disciplin- 
ary restraints in any particular. Applica- 
tion for furlough in due form had to be 
made in writing, and, when by an inferior 
officer or private, put into the hands of 



296 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the captain of the company to which he 
belonged. This officer would indorse the 
application over his own official signature, 
and forward it to the colonel commanding 
the regiment, who in like manner would 
indorse it and send it to the brigade com- 
mander; and thus onward and upward it 
would go, passing from one commanding 
officer to the next one above him until it 
reached the headquarters of the ranking 
general of the particular army with which 
the applicant was connected. Having been 
passed on in an upward direction by this 
process until it reached its final destina- 
tion, the application was returned to the 
applicant through the same channel of com- 
munication, inversely, along which it had 
been carried up, thus conforming to the 
venerable mandate that " what goes up 
must come down." If it came back to the 
anxious soldier duly approved, his heart was 
made most happy thereby ; but if disapproved, 
the disappointment was often very depress- 
ing. 

Many of those applications for furloughs 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 297 

were curious productions, and some of them 
were very pathetic. In them the soldiers 
would take much pains, and with studied ef- 
fort, to show the commanding general pre- 
cisely why they ought to go home for a 
season, and often plead their cases from the 
standpoint of their family necessities in a 
most touching manner. A short time in the 
army seemed a long time, and so they would 
sometimes base their application upon the 
length of time they had been from home. 
I asked a leave of absence at the expiration 
of the first six months that I was in service, 
and it seemed to me then that I had been a 
soldier the most of my life. ^NTot to have 
seen my wife and two living children in six 
months was a tremendous self-sacrifice, 
thought I; and surely that fact made 
known to the commanding officers would 
move them to sufi:er me to go home for a 
short while! 

It was occasionally the case, when a fur- 
lough proper could not be obtained, that 
some of the men could have an opportuni- 
ty of making their way home by being de- 



298 CON^PEDERATE ECHOES. 

tailed to collect up clothing for the com- 
mand in the section of country from which 
they enlisted. 

Usually they Avould make application to 
be thus detailed, and in the way that they 
would for furlough; so that it was six of 
one and half a dozen of the other. And 
it was not always the case in making such 
application that they were moved to do so 
by a desire altogether to procure clothing 
for their comrades and themselves, but their 
home longings were the main incentive that 
prompted them to do so. 

Just before leaving camp to go home on 
furlough, those who were thus favored would 
gather up all the letters written by their 
comrades to their home folks that they would 
likely have an opportunity of delivering; 
and when they returned to the army at the 
expiration af their leave of absence they 
would bring back with them letters and 
such other things as they could to the sol- 
diers in camp, from their loved ones at 
home. And what treasures those letters and 
other things were! In this way conimunica- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 299 

tion was kept up to a considerable extent 
between some sections of the country and 
the army. 

Although it was not ahvays probable that 
soldiers having furloughs could reach their 
homes (especially those from the border 
States, largely occupied after a time by the 
Yankees), still a permit to go home seemed to 
them to open the way to get there, however 
difficult and dangerous the effort to do so 
might be. The soldier bethought himself 
that his life was one of continued expo- 
sure to death anyway, and so he felt that he 
had as soon take risks in going to see those 
whom he loved better than life as in any oth- 
er way, and go he would oftentimes when it 
seemed Avell-nigh certain that he would be 
captured or shot by the enemy in the under- 
taking. Many were, indeed, first and last, 
in one way and another, lost to the army 
who undertook to go to their homes through 
the Yankee lines. Some were captured and 
sent to prison, some w^ere killed, and some 
w ere so headed off by the Yankees that it 
seemed impossible to them for them to re- 



oOO CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

port again to their commands, and they 
remained at home permanently. 

This disposition of the Southern soldiers 
to take any risk to get home is not sur- 
prising when we remember how intensely 
attached to home and the loved ones there 
was our citizen soldiery. Indeed, there is 
no country in this wide world where home 
endearments are so tender or so strong as in 
our own Southland; and to be away from 
our own precious and helpless ones as war- 
riors in their defense, and in ours, intensified 
the longing to be with them to an incalcu- 
lable extent. And especially was this the 
case when our homes and loved ones were in 
sections of the country overrun by the Yan- 
kees; for then to our ardent longings merely 
to see them was added the most painful solic- 
itude possible for their well-being and safety. 

Many of our soldiers also, let me say, were 
poor, and left their families with but little 
means of support when they joined the 
army. They had promises, it may be, from 
their neighbors in better circumstances that 
their families would be cared for in their ab- 



COXFEDEltATE ECHOES. 301 

sence, but the war lasted longer than was 
expected, and was so waged by our adversa- 
ries as to impoverish Southerners generally; 
and so many poor families were left without 
help after a while in the way of supplies, so 
far as their neighbors were concerned. The 
soldiers themselves would send home all that 
they could of their wages when it was possi- 
ble to do so, but that was a small amount at 
most, and in a currency that was deprecia- 
ting continually. In such a state of things 
as this, of course the soldier availed himself 
of every opportunity that presented itself, 
that he might see after the welfare of those 
dependent upon him. 

Being then a married man myself, I have 
been writing with reference to such, mainly; 
but the heart of the " soldier boy " looked 
homeward also, and especially if he had a 
widowed mother and sisters dependent upon 
him for a livelihood, and he, too, procured a 
furlough when the opportunity was afforded 
him to do so — not to speak of the boy who 
was pining to see his sweetheart back yon- 
der. 



/„., 



302 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

From first to last, as the weary war went 
on, a great many soldiers, both married and 
single, were privileged to visit their homes 
a time or two, and these visits were very 
comforting to their loved ones and to them- 
selves; and yet, upon returning to their com- 
mands, many soldiers would express regret 
that they had gone home, as it made them 
feel, they would say, so much worse after 
they got back to the army than they did be- 
fore they went home. The comparative 
number of those who procured furloughs and 
those who did not I have no means of know- 
ing, but tliere were doubtless very many who 
did not visit their homes during the entire 
war. 

The longings of some of our soldiers to visit 
their families and homes grew upon them 
until they develoj)ed into an intolerable ag- 
ony of grief; and actually degenerated finally 
into a form of malady, from which not a few 
died. So opj^ressive and uncontrollable to 
them was the gloom of homesickness, or 
"nostalgia," as called by the army surgeons, 
that the very throbbiugs of the heart were 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 303 

overcome thereby and death ensued. These 
soldiers loved their homes no better than 
their comrades did; but they lacked the 
disposition to accept the situation as it was, 
and to overcome the inner promptings of 
depression and heartache. There was man- 
ifestly with them the lack of the spirit of 
genuine manhood; and so they got not much 
sympathy from their more determined fel- 
low-soldiers, who believed that we ought to 
brave it out in any privation and danger, 
and keep ourselves on our feet to the last 
limit of possible endurance, for the sake of 
the sacred cause in the defense of which we 
had taken up arms. And yet, how could it 
be otherwise than excruciatingly depressing 
to those soldiers, for instance, whose fami- 
lies were in want, while they themselves 
were prevented from going to see after their 
welfare by the pressure of military duties in 
the face of a most formidable invading and 
bloodthirsty foe? 

These were not the only men, however, 
whose anxieties to get home became a tor- 
ture to them; there were numbers of others 



304: CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

who could be spared from home very well, 
considering the necessities of self-defense 
that were upon us, who simply could not 
endure the thought of being from home al- 
ways, the war, to them, seeming as though it 
would never end. 

Twice during my term of service I had 
the 023portunity of visiting my family for a 
short while. The first time, while I had 
to be very careful a part of the way home 
to avoid Yankee pickets and scouts, I 
made the round trip with but little trouble 
for war times, but my second visit was 
made with much risk and difficulty. A 
few items of personal experience gathered 
from these two expeditions, so to speak, 
coupled with such observations as were 
suggested by them, may serve the purpose 
of bringing to view certain important as- 
pects of the war, which can perhajos best 
be presented from the standpoint of a Con- 
federate soldier on furlough. 

While our army was in camp on Cold 
"Water Creek, not far from Holly Springs, 
Miss., October 15, 1862, Lieut. Rather 



co:n^federate echoes. 305 

and I received an order from Gen. Rust, 
then commanding our brigade, to go to 
Xorth Alabama for clothing for the regi- 
ment. We had made application to be de- 
tailed for that purpose, as there was just then 
no other way to get leave of absence; and 
we had in mind a visit to our families, as 
well as a desire to procure clothing for our- 
selves and others. We were allowed an ab- 
sence of thirty days, and we both returned 
to the command before our time was quite 
out. 

Early on the morning after receiving the , 
order we went to Holly Springs from our 
camp in a wagon. Here we expected to find 
a conveyance of some kind across to the Mo- 
bile and Ohio railroad, but in this we were 
disappointed; we learned, however, that by 
going down on the freight train to Oxford 
that evening we could get a stage the next 
morning to Okolona, and this we did. Ow- 
ing to the number of passengers registered 
ahead of us, it was with much difficulty that 
we could get permission from the proprietor 

and the other passengers to crowd ourselves 

20 



306 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

into the stage, which was a very indifferent 
old hack — a " shackly shebang," as one of 
the passengers dubbed it. A mule and a 
gray mare of venerable appearance, with 
Aveary and hungry looks, were the team. We 
reached Pontotoc at supper time, and left 
the next morning at three o'clock, arriving 
at Okolona, on the M. & O. R. R., after six 
liours' drive, Saturday, October 18. 

We had not traveled far after leaving 
Pontotoc so early in the morning until we 
became quite cold, and, coming to a camp 
iire on the roadside, the stage stopped for 
the passengers to warm. A gentleman had 
camped here for the night with some negroes 
(slaves) whom he was moving from Critten- 
tlen County, Arkansas, to some point in 
Middle Alabama to get them out of reach 
of Lincoln's Yankees. This was, in those 
days, called "running the negroes," and 
was frequently done by those owning slaves 
for security against the Yankees. So also 
would men " run " their horses and other 
stock when Yankees were about, to hide 
them from these hideous upcountry thieves. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 307 

It SO happened that this gentleman who was 
moving his negroes to a place of safety, as 
he supposed, lived near my mother-in-law, 
who had moved from ^orth Alabama to Ar- 
kansas just before the war, and acquainted 
me with the sad fact that she had recently 
died. I never knew her superior as a wom- 
an of intelligence, refinement, and conse- 
cration to the service of God. 1 loved her 
with a perfect devotion, and the sudden 
and unexpected information of her death 
grieved me immeasurably. And, added to 
this, the thought of carrying such distress- 
ing news to my wife saddened me all the 
more. To me it seemed providential that 
we stopped at the fire before day that morn- 
ing to warm. 

At Okolona Lieut. Rather and I had the 
good fortune to form the acquaintance of 
Dr. Thompson, a most excellent gentleman 
and resident of that place, who had two 
horses in his keeping which he was anxious 
to send to a relative of his, Mr. Lawrence 
Thompson, in [N'orth Alabama. The horses 
bad been run from the Yankees, Providing 



308 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

ourselves with saddles and bridles, Lieut. 
Kather and I were soon on them and jour- 
neying sweetly homeward. jSTo horses ever 
rode so well as these did on that trip, from 
Saturday afternoon to Monday night. 

Arriving at Frankfort, Ala., Lieut. Rather 
and I separated, he going to Tuscumbia, 
and I to Uncle Calvin Goodloe's, thirteen 
miles west of Tuscumbia, with whom I had 
left my family, reaching his house at eight 
o'clock that night— October 20, 1862. This 
was the first time I had seen the *' Yalley," in 
which was Uncle Calvin's homcj after it was 
overrun by Yankee soldiers. They had come 
in from the direction of Corinth, and passed 
on eastward toward Tuscumbia, Courtland, 
etc., going as far, I think, as Huntsville. As 
was their custom, they despoiled that mag- 
nificent region of country, peopled with the 
highest type of citizenship, and put a blight 
of poveity on the very soil, as it has ever 
seemed to me. 

jSTightfall was fast coming on as I neared 
the long, gradual descent of the mountain 
road that I had been traveling for some time 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 309 

into the Valley, about opposite Barton's 
Station, on the Memphis and Charleston rail- 
road; but the sky was clear, and a big, red 
moon gave me the comfortable assurance 
that it was ready to light up my way as day- 
light disappeared. It also enabled me to 
overlook the Valley for many miles as I 
was riding down the mountain road into it. 
A melancholy haziness hung over it every- 
where; and as I entered it and rode on to Un- 
cle Calvin's, amidst desolation, a gloominess 
of a most depressing nature possessed me, 
relieved only by the thought that I would 
presently embrace my precious wife and 
children. 

About a mile before I started down the 
mountain slope, as I now recall, I passed the 
chalybeate springs which had been improved 
before the war by a number of Valley peo- 
ple (Uncle Calvin being one of the number) 
as a summer resort for their families. In 
the summer of 1855 I came from St. Fran- 
cis County, Ark., where I had been living 
some eighteen months, to visit my Alabama 
relatives, and spent much of my time at these 



310 COIs"rEDEEATE ECHOES. 

springs. An event of the supremest moment 
to me, as related to my subsequent course of 
life, transpired while I was there. Miss 
Sallie Louise Cockrill was there I And she 
w^as my loftiest ideal of the perfection of 
womanhood! Over and over again I tried 
to tell her of my admiration for her — to tell 
her that I loved her, indeed — but my courage 
would fail me, and fail me, and fail me. 
Moreover, when I would frame in my mind 
a love speech for her ears, I would forget it 
at the opportune moment to speak it. I made 
frequent vows to myself to address her on a 
specified occasion or at a set time, but a loss 
of breath would prevent me from fulfilling 
my vows. Talk about fighting Yankees! 
that was fun compared to the struggle I w'as 
then engaged in within myself in order to 
accomplisii what I so ardently desired. I 
grew desperate finally, as the time was near- 
ing for me to leave the springs, and on the 
evening of August 11, 1855, at fifteen min- 
utes before seven o'clock, unchoked myself 
enough by the force of a mighty purpose to 
give her a clumsy hint that I thought she 



COXrEDERATE ECHOES. 311 

would understand. But she failed to take 
the hint! Just then, in the midst of uncertain- 
ty, my courage was aroused, and I talked no 
longer in parables. The victory was mine! 
We were married the 29th of the following- 
November, and together we have now fought 
the battles of life for over fifty years. In 
those days of early love and courtship, my 
exalted estimate of her character was not 
exaggerated, as has long since been demon- 
strated, and continues to be. Xo dream 
then had she of what there Avas in store for 
her of sore and varied trials, as the wife of 
a Confederate soldier through years of war- 
fare all about us, and as an itinerant Meth- 
odist preacher's wife since 1868; but she has 
endured them all w^th unfaltering heroism, 
and she has constantly met all the require- 
ments of duty in the several relations of life 
which she has occupied. Nothing could 
have been farther from my mind then than 
that I would after a while be a soldier and a 
preacher, but so it came to pass. 

In the side yard at Uncle Calvin's home, 
a few steps from the end of his residence in 



312 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

which was his family room, there was a per- 
fectly comfortable office building, of attract- 
ive appearance, and supplied with all needed 
furniture and other conveniences as a sitting 
and bed room, which was more suitable for 
my wife to occupy while there with her 
children and nurse than a room in the com- 
modious family residence, and it was ar- 
ranged for her to occupy that during her 
stay there. She could not have been better 
provided for in every particular anywhere, 
nor in better hands than where she was. 
Uncle Calvin's wife, formerly Miss Harriet 
Turner, of Huntsville, Ala., was her aunt. 
I^ever was there a more open and hospitable 
home than these generous relatives of ours 
had, and they were always like home folks 
to my wife and to me, both before and aft- 
er our marriage. In the condition that 
she then was (of pregnancy), together with 
a sorrowful heart from the death on our 
way there, at Athens, of our precious lit- 
tle Loulie and on account of my departure 
for the army, they were especially kindly to- 
ward her and interested In her welfare. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 313 

Here she gave birth to her fourth child, 
a son, soon after my enlistment for the war. 
We then had two living children, our old- 
est and our youngest. The other two were 
in heaven. In the course of time my wife 
became the "joyful mother" of twelve 
children— six boys and six girls. 

When I reached Uncle Calvin's on the 
the night already mentioned, having hitched 
my horse, I went first, of course, to the 
building occupied, or supposed to be, by 
my wife and little boys — my treasures, of 
priceless value to me; "a peculiar treasure 
unto me above all people " — but they were 
not there! The thought then came into 
my mind that she had gone with her little 
ones to stay awhile with my former guard- 
ian. Uncle Robert Goodloe, seven miles 
farther on, as was contemplated by us. 
However, I thought it not improbable that 
she was sitting in Aunt Harriet's room, 
which was much used as a family sitting 
room, there being a light in it; for it was 
hardly yet bedtime. Quickly I put in my 
appearance there, to the great surprise of 



SM CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the family, but my treasures were not there! 
^or had they gone to Uncle Robert's! 
They had gone home not long before, which 
I considered very judicious on my wife's 
part, under existing circumstances; but there 
I was, '' down in Alabam','' ^nd my wife 
and children away up in Tennessee, my na- 
tive State, with a little more than four days 
of horseback travel between us, considering 
the roundabout way I had to go after pass- 
ing Franklin to avoid the Yankees, who 
then occupied ]S'ashville. Wife wrote to me 
of her plans to return home before she went, 
but the letter did not reach me. She was 
moved tc do so because the Yankees seemed 
to be as accessible to Alabama as they were 
to Tennessee, and she felt that she might be 
able to take care of our home by being at it 
better than any other occupant would be 
likely to do. 

^Ye came from home to Alabama with a 
few servants in a carriage and wagon, two 
horses to each, and she went back in the 
same way, Willie Goodloe going with her 
to Columl)ia, as far as was needful for her 



CONFEDEEATE ECHOES. 316 

protection. Before she started Uncle Cal- 
vin got the information from Confederate 
scouts that she could reach her home with- 
out risk of any kind, as the route she 
could go was cleared of Yankees by our 
cavalry. She had no trouble in going 
through without hindrance of any kind, or 
any interruption whatever. 

One of the carriage horses, Mike, was lame 
when she arranged to go, and had been for 
a long while, on account of bad shoeing; but 
Uncle Calvin loaned her one of his, thinking 
that at some time or other, and in some way, 
his horse could be returned and Mike sent 
home. N^othing was more foreign from 
their thoughts than that I would soon be 
there to ride Mike home, and to ride his 
horse back. 

After spending the night at Uncle Cal- 
vin's, I took Mike in hand the next morn- 
ing with some degree of uncertainty as to 
whether he was ready for the journey that 
was before us. He had to be shod all around, 
and I attended to that matter during the 
forenoon. Yerv soon after dinner I mounted 



316 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

him and started for home. I felt sorry for 
him as I rode off, for I expected to make 
all the haste I could to see my loved ones, 
and I did not want to consume any more of 
my leave of absence on the road than was 
strictly necessary; but he did not seem to 
get mucli weary at any time. Soon after I 
passed Franklin I began to describe a semi- 
circle to the right around Nashville, with a 
view to striking the N^ashville and Lebanon 
Turnpike at Tulip Grove, close to the Iler- 
mitage, and a little over a mile from home. 
This w^as the insecure part of the route, but 
the people as I passed along were glad to 
give me such information for my safety as 
they could about the location of the Yankee 
pickets and the movements of their scouting 
parties. 

I reached Tulip Grove, formerly the prop- 
erty of Andrew J. Donelson, about three 
o'clock in the afternoon of October 25, having 
spent three nights on the road. This was 
then the residence of J. R. Cockrill, whose 
wife, then living, was my wife's only sister 
and two years younger. She died some 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 317 

years afterwards. A more sweet-toned, 
lovely character than she was could not be 
found. Wishing- to spend a few moments 
with her family before going" over home, I 
rode up to the house and hitched my horse 
at the back gate. Steve, a negro house boy, 
was at the wood pile getting some wood for 
the fire in the family room, and from him 
I learned that my wife and children had 
not yet gone home, but were then in the 
house there. lie instantly made a rush to 
go in ahead of me and let my wife know 
that I had come, but I called him to a halt 
and made him stay behind me. Tic f )llowed 
close to me to see what was going to happen, 
and was the completest Fidgety Philip that 
I ever saw. I walked across the back porch 
and into the room where my wife and her 
sister (Mary) were sitting looking in the 
fire, with their backs toward the door that I 
entered, and neither one saying a word. 
Wife had sent Amanda, the servant girl, 
into another room for some WTiting paper to 
write to me, and was arranging in her mind 
what she would write, not knowing whether 



318 CONPEDERATE ECHOES. 

I was dead or alive, as she had not heard 
from me since the bloody battle of Corinth, 
in which I was engaged. Granville, our 
firstborn, was playing on the floor, and in- 
tent on the playthings that were entertain- 
ing him. I was well into the room before T 
was observed, as they thought I was Aman- 
da coming with the writing paper or Steve 
with the wood that he was sent for, and did 
not turn their heads for a moment or two to 
see which one it was or who it was that had 
come in. All three turned their eyes upon 
me at once, and we had a miniature heaven 
in that room. Did not the angels smile with 
moistened eyes as they beheld the rapturous 
commotion that then occurred with us? 
Aunt Milly, the honored "Black Mammy" 
of our household (an " institution " peculiar 
to the "Old South") came bounding in from 
an adjacent room with a joyful heart, bring- 
ing our baby boy (my namesake, that I had 
never seen) in her loving arms for my espe- 
cial caresses. Others about the house, white 
and black, were soon in the room also to 
give me a smile and hand shake of welcome. 



COJ^^FEDERATE ECHOES. 319 

In due time the greeting gave place to a 
family conversation, and at once, and simul- 
taneously, wife and Sister Mary asked: 
"When did you hear from mother?" Ah, 
me! The sad information of her death must 
of course be given, and then we all wept. 
Their father had been long dead, and now 
they are orphans. And so it is that in this 
life there is often the blending in our hearts 
of joy and sorrow, but after a while it will 
be all joy to us, we trust, in our Father's 
house above. 

We called our home Millbrook, because of 
the modest mill that we had on a small 
creek running through our land. It was a 
grist and saw mill, and there was water in 
the creek most of the time for running it. 
The creek was really a " spring branch " 
from Mr. James Carter's never-failinsr bi^: 
spring just across our boundary line. 

After a while the insufferable Yankees 
found that mill and branch, and established 
a camp there until they could use up all the 
building timber that I and my neighbors 
had. Being close to the Cumberland River, 



320 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

on which the back of my land rewted, it was 
a very convenient location for these Lincoln 
warriors to carry on their trade of appropri- 
ating what did not belong to them. They 
took possession there not long after the re- 
turn of my family from Alabama. 

When we were arranging to leave Mill- 
brook for xllabama, we felt the need of some 
reliable person to occupy our residence dur- 
ing our absence and take the best care he 
could of the entire place. A Mr. Cooken- 
doffer, of Nashville, came well recommend- 
ed to me, and I turned everything over to 
him and his sister. He could not tell how 
long he would stay there, but promised to 
get the best occupant of the house that he 
could, should he find it to his interest to 
leave. He did leave before a great while, 
but not until he had found a Mr. Drake and 
family, of Kentucky, to occupy the house 
just as he had done, no charge having been 
made from first to last for the use of the 
house. Mr. Drake was still there when my 
wife returned from Alabama, and she there- 
fore stopped with her sister until he could 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 321 

conveniently move to another place, which 
he soon secured. The third day after I 
reached Tulip Grove he moved his family 
elsewhere, and on the day following we re- 
entered our beloved Millbrook home with 
glad hearts, and with becoming gratitude to 
God, I trust, for bringing us safely to that 
day of sunshine in our souls, not forgetting 
that troubles and dangers of many kinds 
could but await us while the war went on. 
We made use of the few days that I could 
be at home in fond companionship one with 
another, to be sure, but also in devising 
measures for the safety and maintenance of 
my home treasures while I was away. We 
strengthened each other in the Lord also, as 
best we could, to bear up bravely under ev- 
ery trial that might fall to our lot. 

The day before I left home was Sunday, 
November 2, and in our home circle we 
made it a day of special devotion and mutu- 
al strengthening, preparatory mainly to the 
separation that was again so soon to take 
place, the anguish of which was already be- 
ing realized by us, and the great trials and 
21 



322 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

perils through which we were sure yet to 
pass in the dark days of gloom and insecu- 
rity which the war had thrust upon us. This 
soldier and his wife were not so heroic in 
the midst of such surroundings and experi- 
ences as we were then passing through as to 
feel a degree of self-sufficiency adequate for 
the dreadful necessities to which we had 
been driven by a remorseless despotism; our 
insufficiency was, indeed, most sensibly re- 
alized and frankly admitted. " Our help is 
in the name of the Lord, who made heaven 
and earth," was our heart-thrilling confes- 
sion, and in that hallowed Xame we con- 
stantly trusted for solace and support and 
safety — for all things, indeed, that we stood 
in need of. 

To our minds it was a distinct gracious 
Providence that took me home just at the 
time that I Avas thei-e. The entire manage- 
ment of home affairs for a livelihood to all 
on the place was soon to devolve on my 
wife under most trying circumstances, and 
she consequently felt the need of my pres- 
ence and counsels to forward her in the se- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 323 

vere undertaking. The servants also need- 
ed direction from me in regard to their wel- 
fare in the upturned condition of the coun- 
try, and encouragement to be diligent in 
their labors and a safeguard to my family. 
Surely it was of the Lord that I was at 
home just then. 

One of the chief sources of pleasure and 
comfort to us upon our return to Millbrook 
was the re-establishment of our family altar 
under our own roof, though my stay at home 
could but be brief. The facts that we had 
been so long deprived of this blessed privi- 
lege, and that I would so soon return to the 
army, made us relish all the more our family 
worship. 

Among the most trying ordeals to which 
we were subjected during the war we num- 
ber the breaking down of our family altar 
by the wrathful thunderbolts hurled at us 
by Lincoln's invading legions. Family 
prayer has ever been to us a veritable boon 
from heaven. By it our personal piety has 
been enriched, and we doubt not that it has 
been largely instrumental in the develop- 



324 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

ment of Christian cliaracter in our children, 
and in bringing them into the fold of our 
Saviour. We are confident that we will 
after a while be a family entire in heaven, 
and feel assured that this hope has come to us 
through the channel of our morning and even- 
ing family prayer, in a very large measure. 
As an ordinance of God it is perfectly nat- 
ural, relating as it does to the family, which 
is the first and most important divine insti- 
tution among men. The family first; the 
Church next. 

Wife and I held our Church membership 
at Dodson Chapel, a Methodist Church some 
three miles from Millbrook, back on the road 
that I traveled. It was then in Union Cir- 
cuit, Lebanon District. Having an ardent 
desire to engage in worship with the breth- 
ren there before leaving home, and finding 
an opportunity during the week to send an 
appointment over there for a prayer meeting 
Saturday night, I did so. In one way and 
another the war had thinned out the commu- 
nity of its former population considerably, 
but enough people were left for a good at- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 326 

tendance, the old Methodist stand-bys being 
of the number. "We had, indeed, a time of 
refreshing from the presence of the Lord. 
Heaven came down onr souls to greet, while 
glory crowned the mercy seat. And such 
communion of the saints as we had! That 
was a great place in those days, and I hope 
still is, for " old-time religion." 

Monday morning, November 3, was the 
time set for me to start back to the army in 
order to reach there before my leave of ab- 
sence expired; I must also make a prompt 
start after an early breakfast, so as to get to 
Franklin that night, bearing in mind that I 
had to go a good deal out of my way over a 
road in places with which I was not familiar 
to avoid the Yankees. Into the hands of 
the Lord I committed my precious wife and 
children, and the servants, in the faith that 
he would hold them in his everlasting arms of 
love and power, and give them the provision 
and protection that they would surely need, 
and that he alone could give. Our final 
adieus were tender and tearful, of course, 
and our parting was necessarily a trial of our 



326 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

faith to an unusual extent. We promised 
each other that, by divine help, we would be 
fully and heartily resigned to the will of our 
Heavenly Father concerning us during our 
separation, and I began my horseback jour- 
ney back to my command in Mississippi. 

The people along the road, the first two 
days especially, seemed almost frantic on 
the subject of " the news," and, taking me 
for a Confederate scout, would hinder me no 
little to question me about no telling how 
many things of recent date about the war, 
which to me were unknown. They would 
then tell me the latest news, as they had 
heard it from various sources. One old 
gentleman below Franklin stopped me ever 
so long to hear him tell that England had 
sent over one hundred and fifty rams to help 
out our few wai- vessels against the Yankee 
navy, that forty Yankee rams had already 
been destroyed by them, that our independ- 
ence had been recognized by all foreign 
powers, and that the war was about over. 

It was my purpose upon arriving at Flor- 
ence not to cross the Tennessee River there 



COXFEDEUATE ECHOES. 327 

and go by way of Tuscumbia to Uncle Cal- 
vin'sj but to take a nearer route, by way of 
Garner's Ferry, some ten or twelve miles 
below Florence, and cross there, taking my 
chances as to whether or not I Vvould find a 
ferryl)oat at that point. Fortunately I had 
reason to believe that I could cross there, 
though I could not feel altogether certain of 
it; for in those days of Yankee gunboats 
and contending cavalry ever and anon along 
the river ferryboats were often taken away 
or destroyed. In the hope that I would find 
a boat at Garner's Ferry, I turned my horse's 
head in that direction at Florence and rode 
briskly onward. But, alas! alas! when I had 
gone about three miles from Florence, I met 
a squad of Confederate cavalry moving at 
rapid speed and carrying the tidings to their 
commander that a heavy force of Yankees 
was close at hand, and advancing on Flor- 
ence. They told me that the Yankees were 
as thick as hops about Garner's Ferry, and 
that I would surely be captured if I went 
any farther that way. Well, sir! of coarse 
I went back to Florence, and crossed the 



328 COXFEDEllATE ECHOES. 

river there, but, for the life of me, I could 
not think there were any Yankees in the di- 
rection I was going; and I learned after- 
wards that there were none. Sadly, be it 
said, we had some cavalry in that region of 
the " buttermilk " sort, who were mortally 
afraid of Yankees, and those that I met 
seemed to be of that kind. I asked them 
pointedly if they had seen any Yankees. 
They had not, they said, but had " reliable 
information " that they were there. " Reli- 
able information!" From Dan to Beershe- 
ba the country was full of that commodity 
then, so that almost every one was supplied 
with a cart load or more of it. 

Well, this " Buttermilk Cavalry " squad, 
as I felt constrained to regard them, caused 
me to take a much longer ride than I had 
contemplated, and consequently did not reach 
Uncle Calvin's until after supper. 

It was necessary for me to make this stop 
at Uncle Calvin's to deliver his horse to him, 
and to arrange for a horse to ride on to my 
command. I must also take a little time be- 
fore leaving the Valley to visit my other rel- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 329 

atives, as I was in too great a hurry to do so 
when on my way home. 

Of course, as the conditions were, I could 
not co-operate with Lieut. Rather in pro- 
curing clothing for the regiment. If my 
wife had remained in Alabama, it is very 
certain that I could have gathered a good 
deal, as the citizens generally, who had the 
means, were anxious to do what they could 
in such matters. The Confederate govern- 
ment, to be sure, proposed to clothe our ar- 
mies, but had not the resources sufficient 
to adequately do so; hence the custom ob- 
tained of getting voluntary contributions of 
clothing from our people at home as oppor- 
tunity afforded. 

My brief visit to my Valley relatives was 
delightful in an eminent sense, and gave me 
much cheer in the trial through which I was 
passing, of leaving my family permanently, 
or nearly so, within the Yankee lines; for 
that whole region was then within their 
dreaded grasp. 

When ready to leave the Valley, Uncle 
Calvin loaned me a horse to ride, and T em- 



330 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

ployed 'Squire Hector Atkinson, a very talk- 
ative and companionable old gentleman, to 
go with me to my command and bring the 
horse back. On my way there I learned to 
my regret that onr army had fallen back 
some distance, under the pressure of Lin- 
coln's hordes, and were in camp at " Mouth 
of Tippah," near Abbeville, Miss. There I 
found it the day before my furlough, so 
called, was out, and the next morning I re- 
ported to Gen. Rust, as the custom was, and 
went on duty in my phice in the company 
to which I belonged with more of purpose, if 
possible, than ever to strike with all my 
might for freedom. 



CHAPTER Xyi. 



My Second Furlough. 

IT was five hundred and fifty-five days 
from the time that I bade adieu to my 
loved ones at Millbrook on my first fur- 
lough to tiie time that 1 saw them again on 
my second furlough. Tliose were days of 
intensely fierce warfare, of blood and car- 
nage in wliich I was more or less engaged, 
and of constant toil and heartache and 
dread on the part of my Heroine of Mill- 
brook; but our gracious Lord had wonder- 
fully protected us in the midst of dangers, 
seen and unseen, and cared for us other- 
wise. 

My second visit home was made at a time 
that the Yankees had undisputed possession 
of all the country through which I passed 
north of the Tennessee River. They had 
strong garrisons not only at Nashville but 
also at the several towns south of that city, 
both in Tennessee and Alabama, and their 

(331) 



332 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

scouts were roaming in every direction with 
vigilance and frequency. Tories (" home- 
made Yankees") there were, also, in consid- 
erable numbers along much of the w^ay, and of 
the most venomous kind. They would lux- 
uriate in an opportunity to report a Confeder- 
ate soldier to the nearest Yankee garrison in 
order that he might be captured or shotj and 
they were ever watchful for an occasion to 
have their Southern sympathizing neighbors 
robbed by the Yankees, burned out, impris- 
oned, or murdered. They served as neigh- 
borhood detectives of the basest sort for 
the Yankee garrisons, and kept them advised 
of everything that was said and done by those 
in their several communities whose hearts 
were with the South; nor did they scruple 
to manufacture such falsehoods as suited 
their purposes of evil. Times without number 
good and orderly citizens were marched ofl' 
as prisoners from their homes by Yankee 
soldiers suddenly coming upon them, because 
of reports, oftener untrue than otherwise, 
furnished them by Southern-born people, 
who, because of cowardice and meanness. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 333 

had become bootlickers for Abraham Lin- 
coln. Through their instrumentality, largely, 
a reign of terror existed in many communi- 
ties through which I passed, as it did also 
indeed in many other sections of our country 
occupied by Northern soldiers. For a 
Southern family in such sections to lodge or 
feed a Confederate soldier was to expose 
themselves to imprisonment and their prop- 
erty to confiscation or destruction; nor must 
they express sympathy with the South in 
any way whatever if they would be careful 
of their well-being. With the Yankee 
satrai^ for a master and the homemade 
Yankee for a detective, the misery of any 
Southern community was made complete. 
In such a case the apprehension of impend- 
ing evil was constantly suffered by our peo- 
ple at home; and they had every reason to 
believe that some calamity was likely to be- 
fall them at any time, day or night. 

Oftentimes they dared not speak above a 
whisper at night in their homes, lest some 
vigilant Tory should eavesdrop them in the 
chimney corner, and manufacture a lie out of 



38tl: cojSTfederate echoes. 

what he pretended to hear, and they could 
not do neighborhood visiting without being 
suspected of plotting against the Lincoln 
dynasty, and be arrested therefor. These 
conscienceless detectives would often clothe 
themselves with dingy Confederate uniforms, 
taken from prisoners, and go to some 
Southern patriot's house for something to 
eat, thus personating hungry Confederate 
soldiers. If food was given them, the one 
giving it was soon thereafter carried to 
prison. 

How many Southern homes were entered, 
uninvited, by Yankee soldiers, and how much 
hurt was done by them to quiet households, 
can never be told, so constantly and so ex- 
tensively was such barbarous business car- 
ried on by the "men in blue." It was often 
their delight to rush roughly into Southern 
homes, to treat contemptuously the helpless 
inmates, to brazenly invade every apart- 
ment, ^nd to help themselves to whatever 
they wanted, whether under lock or not. 

As I, from personal knowledge and other 
unmistakable tokens, while on this second 



co:n'fedekate echoes. 335 

furlough of mine, became more thoroughly 
acquainted with the true state of affairs, in 
some places worse than others, with those 
who were in accord with the South, my heart 
throbbed with a wrathful indignation toward 
the insolent tormentors of those defenseless 
home people beyond what I had ever before 
realized, and I could not but feel that the whole 
tribe of Lincolnites, from their chief down, 
more than merited our utmost contempt and 
execration — and extermination, if possible. 
The remembrance of those days of wanton 
persecution of our home people by the ad- 
versaries of the South is still abhorrent to 
thousands of Southern men and women, and 
all the more so as no reparation, even in 
word, has ever been made by the victors in 
the struggle for tlieir treatment of our un- 
armed and unoffending people in so many 
sections of the country from which our ar- 
mies were forced to retire by the outnum- 
bering armies of the advancing enemy. 

My furlough began April 30, 1864, our en- 
tire regiment (35th Alabama) being fur- 
loughed that day by Col. Sam Ives, com- 



336 COI^rEDEEATE ECHOES. 

mancling it. He consented to do this at 
the earnest solicitation of the commissioned 
officers of the several companies composing 
the regiment, they proposing to assume all 
the responsibility that might attach to the 
act at army headquarters. 

Our regiment, and the 27th Alabama, had 
been detached from the army of Mississippi 
nearly two months, and sent to North Ala- 
bama, where they were made up, to gather 
up recruits in that region. They had ac- 
complished all that could be done in that di- 
rection, and were awaiting orders to rejoin 
the army. Our men had been so constantly 
on duty, gathering up recruits and catching 
Yankees, that very few of them had the 
opportunity of visiting their homes, close to 
which most of them were; it was, therefore, 
deemed but right, under the circumstances, 
by the officers to give them a few days at 
home before leaving ]^orth Alabama. There 
was no "red tape" in this way of furlough - 
ing, but the ranking officer, though no 
higher than a Colonel, was thought to be 
competent to do as Col, Ives did. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 337 

In my case, and that of AV. G. AVhitfield, 
Orderly Sergeant of Company D, no special 
time was required for ns to return, because 
of the distance we had to go and the dilFi- 
culties we had to surmount. Col. Ives knew 
that we would make every ellbrt to return 
in a reasonable length of time. Whitfield 
wanted to go to l^ew Providence, where he 
had relatives, if not a sweetheart, and I, of 
course, wanted to go to Millbrook to see my 
family and do what I could for them. 

Whitfield and I could travel together a 
considerable distance, which we did, and we 
determined to walk, so that we could go 
through the woods and fields when neces- 
sary for our safety, and travel at night more 
securely than we could on horseback. Our 
plan, also, was to keep as far as we con- 
veniently could from the Yankee garrisons, 
and off of public roads as much as possible. 
And as to practicing deception on whomso- 
ever we should meet, in order that we 
might elude and delude the Yankee soldiery, 
and set us forward more surely on our way, 
we were agreed that there was no moral 
22 



338 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

wrong in it, even though we represented our- 
selves as deserters, the most odious of all 
characters. We must, in the use of every 
needful expedient, succeed in our perilous 
undertaking and report back to our com- 
mand for duty in due time. "All things are 
fair in war," is an adage that we were will- 
ing to adopt, so for as it related to the em- 
ployment of stratagems for our safety and 
success. 

The first problem, and a difficult one, that 
Wliitfield and I had to solve w^as, how could 
we cross the Tennessee River? There were 
no ferries then in operation within our reach, 
because of the Yankees on the other side, who 
were actively patrolling the river for a consid- 
erable distance above and below Florence; and 
they were all the more diligent because frag- 
ments of our two regiments (2Tth and 35th 
Alabama) had but recently gone over on 
their side at night and brought back with us 
their brag '•AYhite Horse" Cavalry, of the 
9th Ohio Regiment. We must find a cross- 
ing some distance below Florence, if possi- 
l)le, and we made our start for that i)urj)ose 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 339 

from Ne wburg, where we were furloughed, and 
where the two regiments were lust in camp. 
This place was, as I now recall, some eight- 
een or twenty miles south of Courtland. 
Going over into the valley, we learned that 
a man named Battle living on the river at 
the mouth of Cane Creek kept a canoe (dug- 
out) and would take pleasiu'e in setting us 
over. He was about my age, and said to be 
a Union man of the mild and accommodating- 
variety. 

This man, though at that time on intimate 
terms with the Yankees, who were nearly 
opposite him across the river, had no fond- 
ness for Yankees in general. He belonged 
to a distinct class of men in portions of the 
South during the war who had an uncon- 
trollable dread of battle, and who studied to 
make the best shift that they could with both 
sides, as occasion seemed to demand, with 
reference to their interests. They never de- 
generated into Tories, but they employed 
many devices to keep out of our army. They 
were, at heart, as anxious for the Yankees to 
get whipped as Southerners geneifilly w^ere, 



340 CONFEDEllATE ECHOES. 

but they were not willing to help whip them 
lest they themselves get shot. 

There was a heavy Yankee patrol some 
three hundred yards from the river where we 
crossed, but Mr. Battle, whom I remember 
with pleasure, understood their movements, 
and assured us that he could take us over in 
his canoe so as to evade them by crossing- 
after dark. He put us in a hiding place in 
the afternoon from which we could see 
across the river, but could not be seen from 
the other side, and told us just when the 
Yankees would appear on the other bank, 
which they did at the time. Just at sun- 
down the last of them left, after watering 
their horses iu the river. An hour after that 
we crossed over, landing a little below where 
they were, and moved hurriedly into the big- 
timber and undergrowth as quietly as we 
could, not speaking above a whisper. Mr. 
Battle, who frequently visited the Yankee 
camp over there, gave us their countersign 
as a safety measure, should we accidentally 
come in contact with them. 

As it was our purpose to travel at night. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. ull 

we pressed forward that entire night with 
the ^orth Star as our guide, and by star- 
light, as there was no moon to light ns on 
our wilderness way. At times we would have 
to push our way through dense undergrowth 
of briers and vines, and to wade a branch or 
creek. And the stars were frequently shut 
out from lis by clouds, making our way so 
dark and uncertain as to quite bewilder ns. 
By agreement Whitfield would be guide 
for a while and then I would, for we could 
not walk side by side under such circum- 
stances. As we went trudging along si- 
lently through the dark woods late in the 
night, Whitfield in front, he suddenly ex- 
claimed in a loud whisper: "Here's another 
river, Doc, and we are gone up sure I" We 
had come to the bluff bank of a broad stream, 
as seen by starlight, which made our situa- 
tion quite alarming. While pondering what 
we should do, "kerchug" splashed a rock in 
the water, thrown by Whitfield before I 
knew it, to sound the depth of it. Then we 
went walking along on the bluff, throwing 
rocks in the stream until we had gone some 



o4Z CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

two or more miles, to where the bank was 
low. Whitfield then quickly undressed and 
began to wade into the water to find its 
depth. It was deep, but he could wade it; 
and across he went, calling to me to come 
on. While he was dressing on the other 
bank I prepared for wading, and went for- 
ward to where he was. Going a little be- 
yond him to a log to facilitate me in putting 
on my clothes, I discovered that we were on 
the point of an island, and that more wading 
awaited us. 1 was ready for it, but Whit- 
field had to prepare again for it, and pres- 
ently we were on the real bank of what we 
afterwards learned was Cypress Creek. 

It was Wednesday night that Whitfield 
and I crossed Tennessee River and made our 
first night march. Just as day was break- 
ing Thursday morning we went into a 
thicket on a high bluif and spent the day, 
sleeping much of the time. There was a 
house in sight of our hiding place, and 
Whitfield, ever venturesome, made his way 
stealthily toward it until he saw an old gen- 
tleman out in the horse lot, then went to 



COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 343 

where he Avas. It Avas a lucky venture, for 
the old man and his family were strictly 
Southern in sentiment, and gave us provi- 
sions for the day and some to carry along' 
with us. lie also gave us important infor- 
mation about the route to travel for our 
safety, etc. 

Thursday night we traveled all night again, 
but were in a road most of the time, and at daj- 
break Friday a farmhouse came to view, Avith 
some negro cabins between us and the house. 
It was too early to disturb the Avhite family for 
our breakfast, but Ave Avent to a negro cabin for 
information, and Avaked up the sleeping in- 
mates. A startled old negro man opened the 
door j ust Avide enough to poke his head out, and 
from him Ave learned Avhose place that was, 
and that the owner had tAVO Yankee blue 
sons Avho had just come home on a visit. 
HoAV to get past that house Avithout going 
the road by it Avas then Avhat avc Avanted to 
know, and we learned from the old negro 
that there was a near cut to a creek beyond 
the house by going back to the Avoods and 
taking a certain direction. We were soon 



344 CO]SrrEDEKATE ECHOES. 

in those woods, and hunting a hiding place 
instead of regarding the negro's direc- 
tions. 

Some distance from there we found a deep 
wooded ravine, in which we stopped for the 
day, though we spent but half the day there, 
and that in much discomfort. About eight 
o'clock we heard the yelping of a hound ap- 
proaching us, and seemingly following our 
tracks. That we were dismayed may as well 
be confessed, for we were in a horrid Tory 
community and there was no way of escape. 
The dog, however, ceased yelping before he 
reached us, called back, it may be, by his 
Tory masters, who thought that he was on 
the wrong trail, as we had taken a different 
course from the way the negro directed us. 
We heard nothing more of the dog, and con- 
cluded to remain where we were until the 
hunt was supposed to be over. We left at 
noon and concluded to try our luck by tak- 
ing the road, he to be strategist one day and 
I the next. 

Having gone some distance, we came to a 
house at the foot of a long hill, close to 



COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 345 

which a curving road passed. We had no 
thought of stopping, but as we came to the 
side gate we saw in the back gallery a 
company of men and women, among them 
a Yankee soldier in uniform, and I followed 
my prompting to turn in at the gate and 
show friendliness with them, Whitfield fol- 
lowing me. The stratagem was a suc- 
cessful one. 

The Yankee soldier was a deserter from 
our Virginia army, as he told us with much 
gusto. He w^as a young man of Southern 
birth and raising, who had volunteered in 
the Southern army, but was noAV in the ranks 
of our enemies. Of such material as this 
"Old Bill" Stokes's regiment was made up, 
he himself having been an ardent Confeder- 
ate before he went to the Yankees. 

The most of the deserters, however, from 
our army were nothing more than "play- 
outs," having wearied of tlie dangers and 
toils of war, or those who felt constrained to 
return home for the support and protection 
of their families. There was a vast differ- 
ence between this class of deserters and 



3^6 COXrJ<:DEKATK ECFIOES. 

those that wont into the fight against ns as 
soldiers or as citizens. These never aban- 
doned their Southernism, as the others did, 
and kept aloof from the Yankees as much as 
it was possible for them to do. And many, 
perhaps most, of them had made good sol- 
diers before they left us. Had there been 
no "play-outs," however, Lincoln's invaders 
would have been defeated and our Southern 
Confederacy firmly established. 

Having tarried as long with the Yankee sol- 
dier and Wayne County Tories as suited our 
})urposes, we left them pleasantly, and at once 
determined to get as far from them as we 
could before going into camp. AYe there- 
fore kept on our way the rest of that day 
and all night following. As day was break- 
ing Saturday morning we sprawled out on 
the ground to rest and sleep. Presently we 
heard a lady calling cows after the old and 
ringing style. Whitfield's eyes at once lost 
their sleepiness, and, remarking, "There is 
milk there, sure!" away he went to arrange 
for our breakfast, it being his time (we took 
it time about) to negotiate for rations. He 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 347 

found a nice, plain Southern family, and we 
fared well with them. After breakfast they 
gave us a bedroom to rest in, and we slept 
until nearly noon before w^e started again on 
our homeward march. 

Here we learned that wo had taken the 
wrong road sometime during the night, the 
north star being hid from us by clouds, and 
had gone twelve miles out of our way. Our 
aim was to go northward that night through 
the western portion of Lawrence County 
after getting out of Wayne, but our mis- 
take put us in the eastern portion of it. To 
get back on our contemplated line of travel 
we must now take a northwest course and 
strike the Beaver Dam road north of Law- 
renceburg. 

We reached this point at nightfall, and 
found that Mrs. Moore, an old acquaintance 
of mine, lived there. Her son William, an 
only child, was Colonel of one of our Ten- 
nessee regiments. When we came in sight 
of her house, I left Whitfield in the woods 
and made my way cautiously to it to ask for 
food and lodging for us. She and I both 



348 CONFEDEliATE ECHOES. 

were greatly surprised at seeing each other; 
and in a few w^ords she let me know^ that she 
was in constant dread of Yankee spies, and 
asked me to return to my comrade and re- 
main until nine o'clock, as a p^'ecautionary 
measure against any danger to her or to us. 
We were then to enter a certain door, where 
she would meet us in quiet, give us our sup- 
per, and show us our bed. The light burned 
dimly, and we talked but a short while and in 
whispers. As was understood among us, 
Whitfield and I left not long after midnight, 
she having shown us how best to leave the 
house. 

^ow it is Sunday. At Mrs. Moore's we 
took the Beaver Dam road, but I do not re- 
member how far we traveled it. We con- 
tinued our journey throughout the most of 
the day, passing Rockdale Mills and Hamp- 
shire and crossing Duck River after dark in 
a skiff at Baxter's fish trap. 

As we drew near to Rockdale Mills, which 
we knew nothing of before, we began to 
see more people astir than was comforta- 
ble to us. Presently we came to a church 



COJSTFEDERATE ECHOES. 349 

where a congregation was assembling, and 
we determined to hunt a hiding place as 
quickly as we could. A short distance after 
passing the church we came to a thickly 
wooded hollow on our right, and turned up 
that, going some distance from the road be- 
fore we stopped. We had scarcely settled 
down, lolling on the ground, when here came 
a man up the same hollow to where we 
were! That made us restless for a moment, 
but needlessly so. 

Our stranger visitor introduced himself to 
us as the Kev. Joseph H. Strayhorn, of the 
Southern Methodist Church, and let us know 
that he would preach that morning at the 
church we had just passed. He saw us leave 
the road and thought we were going to a 
spring up the hollow. He knew from our 
clothing that we were Confederate soldiers, 
and sought us, therefore, in the hope that ho 
could learn from us the latest news about 
the war. He was a true Southerner, and wc 
had a jolly good time with him until he had 
to go to the church. He gave "Whitfield and 
me some valuable information about the 



350 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

road, people, etc., ahead of us until we 
crossed Duck River. 

Brother Strayhorn and I met no more 
until the fall of 1869, the year after I be- 
came a preacher. We were members to- 
gether of the Tennessee Conference, M. E. 
Church, South, and warm friends until he 
died, in 1899. He was a ver}' devout, warm- 
hearted man, a good preacher, and an un- 
usuially sweet singer of the songs of Zion. 
"When I see him again, it will be in heaven. 

Among the names given us by Brother 
Strayhorn that we could talk freely to and 
get information from was Mr. William Biffle, 
in the outskirts of Hampshire. We reached 
his house a little before sundown, and I went 
to the front door while Whitfield waited at the 
gate. Mr. Biffle was a thorough Confeder- 
ate, and had two sons in our army if I do 
not forget, but no introduction or reference 
that I could give could induce him to show 
us favor in any way, and he was painfully 
restless while we were there. He did not 
treat us with the slightest civility, but re- 
ferred us to a man some half a mile beyond 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 361 

who might tell us what we wanted to know. 
This man was a " Union man," though Mr. 
Biffle said nothing of that. Strayhorn had 
told us. AVe did go there, and learned from 
him where we could cross Duck Kiver, the 
road leading over a considerable ridge some- 
what back of his house, and down into the 
narrow bottom, at that place, of the river. 

Mr. Biffle had suffered so much from 
Yankee soldiers and their odious emissa- 
ries, and they had devised so man}- means to 
entrap him, that he stood in constant dread 
of them, lie dared not admit a Confederate 
soldier into his house when it was likely that 
some Yankee spy might see him do so, lest 
he be reported on and carried off to prison, 
or suffer some damage of a more serious na- 
ture. And then he did nut know but that 
Whitfield and I were Yankee detectives in 
Confederate clothing, as they were given to 
practicing such stratagems to catch our un- 
suspecting fi-iends at liome. As T was re- 
turning from Millbrook, dressed in citizen's 
clothes, I spent the night with him, receiv- 
ing a most cordial welcome. Tlie entire 



352 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

family were spleiulicl people of the best 
Southern type. 

It was night when "Whitfield and I reached 
Duck River, and the place was known as 
Baxter's Crossing. The dwelling was on 
the south bank of the river, and when we 
came to it the small yard seemed to be full 
of men, which caused us considerable uneas- 
iness, as we did not know but that it meant 
arrest for us. "We opened the gate unhesi- 
tatingly, however, and walked straight to 
the door of the house, which was open, and 
inquired for Mr. Baxter, whom we asked 
for supper, which was then on the table, and 
to set us across the river. "We were promptly 
accommodated in both particulars, and were 
soon on the north bank of the river with a 
feeling of much more security than we had 
on the south bank, where we had employed 
our stratagem of dissimulation for all that it 
was worth, as a military necessity. 

Having crossed Duck River, our aim was 
to pursue our way through the woods, bear- 
ing gradually to the right, until we came to 
the "Natchez Trace," the road along which 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 353 

Gen. Andrew Jackson is said to have taken 
his army to whip the British at I^ew Or- 
leans; but we soon encountered a swamp 
which seemed impenetrable in the night, and 
we stopped till daybreak. Then onward we 
went, coming to the road at the right place, 
and traveled it together until we came to 
Kinderhook, an invisible village then in the 
northwest corner of Maury County, where 
he went straight forward on the Charlotte 
road, and I took the Hillsboro road to the 
right. His problem then was, how he would 
get across Cumberland River near Clarks- 
ville; and my problem was, how I would 
cross the main Yankee thoroughfare between 
Kashville and Franklin, which I thought to 
be my principal danger then. That safely 
crossed, I believed I could reach Millbrook 
without disturbance, as I had learned on my 
first furlough how to wend my way through 
that region. 

Whitfield and I had many serious and 

troubled moments from time to time while 

we were together, but we also got a good 

supply of fun out of our pilgrimage in one 

23 



354: COXFEDEUATE ECHOES. 

form and another before we parted, to meet 
again on the fighting line in Georgia. But 
my part of the fun ceased when we parted, 
and I was greatly burdened with a sense of 
loneliness and insecurity the rest of the 
way. 

After AVhitfield and I parted it took me a 
little over three days to reach Millbrook. 
The families that I stopped with at night 
were of the quiet order and kindly disposed 
toward me. From them I procured pro- 
visions for each day after the first, when I 
already had with me what I needed. An 
air of perfect self-composure, and the em- 
plojanent of such other tactics as were 
needed a time or two, secured my sale ar- 
rival at home Wednesday afternoon, May 
n, at 3 o'clock. 

.Vs I entered the hall from our front 
porch the right-hand door leading into our 
family room stood open, and 1 was at once 
face to face with ni}' precious household. 
'' What a meeting! What a meeting! " As 
they first came to my view my ever-busy 
wife was at work, assisted by "Aunt Milly" 



CONFEDEllATE ECHOES. 355 

and Keziah (colored), preparing some wool 
for the spinning wheel and loom; while 
Granville, our firstborn, now seven years 
old, was playing in the room with his two- 
year-old brother. My arrival was altogeth- 
er unexpected to my wife; and, indeed, a 
greater surprise to her than my other visit, 
because there seemed no possible way for me 
to get home then, owing to the Yankee occu- 
pation of the country I had to pass through. 
The many days of my absence had all 
been long ones to my beloved wife, so bur- 
dened with toil and care had she been to 
meet the home responsibilities that were uj^on 
her, and of anxiety for my safety in the 
midst of constant perils. She had lost some 
flesh on account of the strain that was upon 
her, but she indulged no thought of getting 
out of heart. At one tiaie, however, she had 
become almost discouraged, as it seemed 
that the war would never end; but her spir- 
its were revived just then by being at church 
and hearing the preacher (Dr. J. W. Plan- 
ner, Sr.) read as the opening hymn of the 
service: 



356 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

" Give to the winds thy fears; 
Hope and be undismayed; 
God hears thy sighs and counts thy tears, 
God shall lift up thy head. 

Through waves and clouds and storms 

He gently clears thy way; 
Wait thou his time, so shall this night 

Soon end in joyous day." 

There are three other verses to this con- 
soling hymn of Zion, and while it was being 
"lined," as the custom then was, and sung, 
she realized with unusual satisfaction and 
joy the presence of the Divine Comforter 
with her, and tlie " blessed assurance " that 
we would be cared for by him as our Leader 
"through waves and clouds and storms," 
such as we were then experiencing or might 
experience. It was in her heart to say joy- 
fully : " The Lord is my light and my salva- 
tion; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the 
strength of my life; of whom shall I be 
afraid?" 

She had so managed her home affairs, 
helped by the faithful servants on the place, 
that all were well clothed, and a good 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 357 

supply of food was on hand. The clothing 
was homemade, both for summer and win- 
ter. Aunt Milly, N^athan. and Keziah were 
the help. Nathan was Keziah's husband 
and Aunt Milly's son. A Lincolnite had 
allured Amanda, the house servant, away 
since I was at home, and Sam went to the 
Yankees in Alabama. The three that re- 
mained were more and more attached to my 
family as the war went on, and remained at 
home to its close. The Yankees were in- 
sufferable pests to my wife while camped so 
long on our place, and would have given her 
vastly more trouble than they did if it had 
not been for the negroes, for whom they 
seemed to have respect, and by whom they 
were influenced; albeit, the negroes had as 
profound contempt for them as my wife did. 
How many homes throughout our South- 
land w^ere thus protected from Yankee ruin 
and their inmates supported in the absence 
of the heads of the families in the war by 
faithful negroes of the olden type ought to 
be found out and told. And a monument 
ought to commemorate their fidelity. 



358 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

The Yankees had gone from our place 
when I reached home, but there was a camp 
of them over Cumberland River, some two 
or three miles from us. Somebody reported 
to them that I was at home. Late in the 
evening of the first Sunday after my arrival, 
N^athan came hurriedly to the front door to 
speak to me. His communication w^as that 
two Yankees were slipping up the back way 
through the orchard toward the house to ar- 
rest me. " Go and meet them instantly, and 
invite them around to the front door," said I 
to Xathan. He cast a look of amazement at 
me, as though he had expected me to run, 
but 23i"omptly did as I told him. As he 
brought them around I met them on the 
front steps, introduced myself to them, 
shook hands with them cordially, and invit- 
ed them to spend the night. Kathan's face 
and eyes betokened wonderment. The strat- 
agem tickled him. 

If ever two Yankees were mesmerized, 
they surely were. They accepted my invi- 
tation to spend the night, but left the next 
morning before T got up. I took them to 



CO.N FEDERATE ECHOES. 359 

an upstairs roum to sleep, and sat with them 
a good while before they retired, telling 
them all sorts of things about the war, 
which seemed to entertain them highly. 
Among other things, J spoke of what a hor- 
rid business it was for us to be lighting and 
killing each other as we were, and that my 
part of the jRght was over, ^ot once did 
they intimate to me their purpose in coming 
to my house, so elFectually Avere they flanked. 
They were part of a squad, the rest of which 
were not far ofl*. 

The remainder of my stay at home was in 
quiet, the Yankees and their emissaries hav- 
ing got the impression that I had no thought 
of returning to tlie army. Indeed, only my 
wife and a few close friends knew what my 
plans were; all others were made to believe 
that I was permanently at home, so far as 
the war was concerned, my part of the fight 
being over. 

As the time was approaching for me to 
return to my command the problem became 
more and more serious as to how I should 
do so. My homebound stratagems coming 



360 COXFEDEllATE ECHOES. 

in would not serve my piirijose going out; 
and, obviously, it was more dangerous to go 
out than it was to come in. Gen. Rousseau, 
at the head of the Yankee forces at I*^ash-- 
ville, was trying to make himself popular 
with our people, and was very generous in 
giving them passes to go to and fro, as they 
might wish; and very often he would give a 
person in Nashville a pass for a friend out 
in the country. Thus it was that I at home 
procured a pass from him at l^ashville, 
through Miss Hennie Cockrill, the daughter 
of Mr. Mark R. Cockrill. It was a big un- 
dertaking to procure such a pass as I want- 
ed; for it was to go to St. Francis County, 
Ark., to see after my farm and negroes 
there; but Miss Cockrill, cousin of my wife, 
knew how to work the Yankee General, and 
got the pass, which, by way of fun, he said 
would not be good if the Rebels halted me. 

Then, again, I learned that practicing phy- 
sicians were allowed to visit patients through 
the Yankee pickets by simply stating their 
business. And so I got me a pair of medical 
saddlebags from a friend at hand, the biggest 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 361 

pair I ever saw. I took all the framework 
for holding bottles out of them so that I 
coi.ld fill them with such things as they 
woald hold that I wanted to carry with me, 
medicine not included. 

Neither the route that I was to travel nor 
the mode of conveyance was indicated in the 
pass; and as I preferred the overland route on 
horseback, I bought a condemned " U. S." 
mare to ride, duly accredited by Yankee of- 
ficials, and named her Sylvira. All aboard 
for Arkansas! 

Gen. Rousseau doubtless thought he was 
loing a silly thing to accommodate a stupid 
man, but he helped me back to Dixie and 
the battlefield. 

Hunting a horse, which I bought from Mr. 
Bowen, at McWhirtersville, and procuring a 
pass consumed more time than I thought for, 
and therefore delayed my I'eturn to my com- 
mand longer than I had anticipated. The de- 
lay, however, was not serious, and was very 
pleasant, of course. I started back May 31, 
soon after dinner. 

As I was on the eve of starting I engaged 



362 CO^^FEDEKATE ECHOES. 

in religious devotions witli our liousebc Jd, 
white and black, and committed us all into 
the protecting care of God in the most effec- 
tual way that I could. We necessarily wept 
and sighed, but wc remembered the gracious 
promises of the Lord, and trusted him for rdl 
things for our good. 

Granville had been during my absence the 
companion and comfort of his mother far be- 
yond what might be expected of one so 
young, and was an intelligent sympathizer 
of hers in all her troubles. He had seen her 
bosom heave with sorrow during my ab- 
sence, and her e3'es fill with tears ever anc. 
anon, and had come to know the meaning of 
it all. And he had seen how bright every- 
thing was with her while T was at home. 
J^ow he sees her again as I am about to 
leave, with sorrowful face bathed in tears. 
It was too much for him to stand, and, turn- 
ing around to the back window of the room, 
he rested his arm on the sill of it and hid his 
weejoing eyes in his bent elbow. He grieved 
to see '" papa " leave home, but " mamma's " 
sorrow and tears on that account overpowered 



CO:NFEDEliATE ECHOES. 368 

him. His little heart aclied with grief as 
neser before. He then seemed to fix his 
purpose to be a comfort to his mother more 
than ever, from which he has never departed 
t') this day. A friend of ours has said that 
h3 and his mother were raised together. 

As I rode out of the front lawn gate into 
the public road 1 began to iium almost un- 
consciously a favorite song of ante-bellum 
days : '' Do They Miss Me at Home? " And 
then I communed with myself and said: 
" Yes! yes! yes! I am missed, I am missed 
a't home." I knew full well, of course, that 
I was missed at home, but never before that 
parting afternoon had I been so profoundly 
and solemnly impressed with the unspeaka- 
ble value my presence at home was to my 
family; so much so that their happiness de- 
pended on it in an incalculable measure. 
And also of how much value to me their 
presence was; so that my life seemed incom- 
plete when they were parted from me, not 
knowing when we should meet again. 

It was best for me to go through Nash- 
ville, and keep my horse's head somewhat 



364 OON^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

westward for a while, as my pass was to 
take me to Arkansas I Then I would take 
the risk of turning hurriedly southward un- 
til I came to and crossed the Tennessee 
River, when I would be in Dixie. As I ap- 
proached Nashville I came to the picket st.'<- 
tion, but did not halt. 

" Good evening. Doctor," said the officer 
in charge. " Going to see a patient? " (Ho 
saw my saddlebags.) "Yes, sir," was my 
professional reply, while Sylvira continued 
her fox trot. The same thing occurred as I 
went out of I^ashville. Of course I wore 
citizen's clothes. 

The first night was spent at Mrs. Ack- 
len's, the widow of Joseph H. Acklen, not 
far out of IsTashvile. Uncle Calvin Goodloe 
had come to Nashville, on his way to Wash- 
ington, on secret service for Gen. Joseph E. 
Johnston, commanding the Confederate army 
in Georgia, and we had arranged to spend 
the night together at Mrs. Acklen's, where, 
indeed. Uncle Calvin was stopping for a 
time. He and Mrs. Acklen were old friends, 
and T had known her several years. He gave 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 365 

nie the gratifying information that the Yan- 
kees were not then occupying Florence, and 
thi.t I could likely cross the Tennessee River 
thore if I could soon reach there in safety. 

As a part of the mission on which Uncle 
Calvin was embarked, he was to ascertain 
the strength and disposition of the Yankee 
ai*my at ^N^ashville, the location and charac- 
tt^r of the defenses, etc. This he had done 
eflectually when we met at Mrs. Acklen's, 
and gave the facts to me, to be communica- 
ted in person to Gen. Roddey or Col. John- 
son, of the Confederate cavalry in ^N'orth Al- 
abama, one of whom I would, find at South- 
port, the steamboat and ferry landing on the 
south bank of the Tennessee River from Flor- 
ence, lie was then ready for his Washing- 
ton trip, and started right away. 

His equipment for this entire expedition 
was letters of introduction and commenda- 
tion to Abe Lincoln &; Co., from prominent 
Yankee officers and ''Union" civilians; es- 
pecially did he get well fixed up by Gen. 
Rousseau and other influential parties at 
N^ashville. The}^ were made to believe that 



366 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

he was '*^ truly loyal " to the Lincoln gove *u- 
nient, and that important business of his own 
was taking him to Washington. 

He had been pulling the wool over the eves 
of Yankee commanding officers ever since tae 
invasion of l^orth Alabama by Rosecrans's 
army in the fall of 1862, and he captu)(^d 
them at the start with two decanters of line 
brandy. As that army was approaching tl' e 
Valley, though still in Mississippi, he mount- 
ed his horse and went to meet it with the de- 
canters in his saddlebags. lie sought out 
Gen. Rosecrans at once, to find out from 
him what the citizens might expect from hifci 
army as it passed through jSTorth Alabamji. 
Rosecrans and his associate commanding of- 
ficers were highly pleased with him — and his 
brandy; and ever after that he found no 
trouble in manipulating big Yankees. 

Uncle Calvin followed the long-ago custom 
of taking " toddy " at home, and of keeping 
fine liquors in a sideboard for himself and 
friends, but I never saw him intoxicated in 
the slightest. The brandy with which he cap- 
tured the Yankees was ft'om his sideboard. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 367 

t^[aving spent my first night from home at 
Mrfc . Acklen's, I proceeded on my journey 
the next morning, reaching Florence early 
Sunday morning, June 5, with assurance 
ba-ck on the road a few miles that no Yan- 
keies Avere there. But as I rode into town 
thti people were looking for the Yankees ev- 
ei'y minute, and, horror of horrors! there w^as 
n<^ way to cross the river, Col. Johnson hav- 
ii g held the ferryboat on the other side on 
a<3count of the advancing Yankee column. 
1 was " in the middle of a fix," as Pitts 
Owen would say. With my pass to Arkan- 
sas from Rousseau, my " U. S." riding horse, 
and my medical saddlebags void of medicine, 
I felt like I would be held as a spy if cap- 
tired by the Yankees. And the more so as 
'. was dressed in citizen's clothes. I hurried 
iSj^lvira on down to the river, which is three- 
<^juarters of a mile wide there, with the pur- 
pose of turning her loose, of ridding myself 
of everything that would hinder me from 
swimming, and of taking to the river on a 
juece of timber to support me in swimming, 
if there was no chance for a boat. 



368 CONPEDEKATE ECHOES. 

Den I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray ■ 
In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand, 
To lib and die for Dixie. 

Looking across the river, I saw on nhe 
other side a party of Confederate soldi(3rs 
under a large cotton shelter, to whom I 
hallooed, and inquired for Gen. Roddey or 
Col. Johnson, that being where I expect'ed 
to find one of them. The latter was thei e, 
and as soon as he learned from me who > I 
was, and that I had a message for him fro^m 
Uncle Calvin, he sent a skiff for me, rowed 
by two Confederate soldiers, as it was much 
quicker crossing that way than in the boai:, 
which was an item of importance, as the 
Yankees were near at hand. I hitched Sy^ - 
vira to a swinging limb, and bequeathed he?" 
to several little boys present, if I could not 
have her crossed. The Psalmist said, "A 
horse is a vain thing for safety," and I found 
it so then. The skiff had hardly touched the 
bank where I was standing until I was in it, 
and we were hastening back to the Dixie 
shore. "When we got beyond the island in 
the river, and I felt safe from Yankee bul- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 369 

lets, T raised the Rebel yell in tlie loftiest 
strain that I was capable of. 

"What is the matter with you?" asked 
one of the soldiers in the skiff. 

'' This is the first time that I have had 
any breath for about a month, and I wanted 
to try it a little," was my reply. 

While I was talking to Col. Johnson, two 
of his scouts came to the north bank of the 
river, and the boat was sent for them and 
their horses and Sylvira. Then onward to 
the; seat of war in Georgia I went With a 
freeman's bounding heart, and took my place 
in the glorious front! Hooray for Dixie! 
24 



CHAPTER Xyil. 



Religion and War — Christian Association, E .c. 

OF the religious aspects of army liie in 
our command I wish now to speak, 
having thought best to put this matter aioart 
from other features of the war, of whatt3ver 
character, whether strictly military or otlier- 
wise, and bring it as connectedly to view as 
possible. To do this in the most available 
way it is needful that I drop in again with 
the army at many places already made famil- 
iar to the reader of tliese relics, and link on 
to those events heretofore made known in 
connection with its movements the others of 
which I would now speak, of a religious na- 
ture. 

But can there be religion in the army — a 
pure form of Christianity among those whose 
heai'ts throb with the utmost aversion for 
their fellows, and whose hands are red with 
human gore? Do not the scriptures of re- 
(370) 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 371 

vealed f:ruth give evidence in the negative? 
In such questions as these there may be in- 
volved a problem, hard of solution to the 
entire satisfaction of many good people, but, 
speajiing from the standpoint of a Southern 
soldier and professed follower of Christ, I 
can say with perfect sincerity that it did not 
hinder a conscious experience of grace in my 
case, nor obstruct me in the performance of 
religious duties, for me to abhor that spirit of 
Yankeedom that impelled vast multitudes of 
armed men, plunderers and murderers, to in- 
vade the sacred precincts of our home land, 
aud to strike down every one of them that I 
could in personal combat. 

We fought strictly in self-defense, and 
could not but despise and destroy a foe to the 
extent that we were capable of, who would 
leave their homes to come upon us with all 
their might, to break us down in every way 
Vhat they could — in person and in property, 
in State and Church — wdien we had done 
nothing to provoke even their displeasure to- 
ward us, never having wronged them in any 
way whatever, f My language in reference to 



372 COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

them is not employed for purposes of harsh- 
ness, but simply to express, in the integrity 
of my heart and plainness of speech, my 
abiding and profound convictions of the 
meaning of the Yankee invasion of the S'outh, 
based upon evidence undeniable and of lim- 
itless extent. It is idle twaddle to speak of 
our secession as being justifiable cause for 
declaration of war against us and the atroci- 
ties which were perpetrated upon us foi our 
ruin, when they themselves made secession 
on our part a necessity. Who does not know 
that the soldiery who fought us cared noth- 
ing as to whether or not we withdrew from 
the JS^orthern states and established a gov- 
ernment of our own? It is but too plain 
that motives of a spiteful, mercenar}^, and 
murderous nature moved those who iiad lon^^ 
been our defamers to enlist in an aggressive 
warfare against us. 

What other attitude could we assume to- 
ward such a foe as this than the one that we 
did? And could we not serve God, and at 
the same time fiercely and violently Avith- 
stand the causeless and vindictive invasion 



\ 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 373 

to which we were subjected? From the 
standpoint of those who precipitated and 
perpetuated with such remorseless vehemence 
the fratricidal war, in which we of the South 
were compelled to engage, let them answer 
for themselves whether or not a genuine form 
of scriptural godliness is compatible with 
warfare. Among Southern soldiers there 
was religion, pure and undcfiled, and a great 
deal of it. The manifestations of it were 
abundant in all parts of our army, as per- 
fectly competent witnesses attest, and in my 
own heart the love of God was realized and 
enjoyed in very great measure. There came 
to our soldiery seasons of refreshing from 
the presence of the Lord on many occasions 
which were inexpressibly glorious, and the 
work of grace moved on while the war 
lasted. 

All the soldiers of our command were not 
Christians, to be sure, and some there were 
who had backslidden after they joined the 
army, but there were many who were de- 
vout followers of Christ. Among those who 
were Christians were those who came into 



.')74 COISTFEDEIIATE EflTOF.s;. 

llie army as such and those who professed 
religion during the progress of the war. To 
nie it was always a matter of sur])rise that a 
soldier, of all other men, could be satisfied to 
live in sin; and it was passing strange that 
one would throw away his religion in the 
midst of the dangers of warfare. There was 
nothing in the soldier life to suggest to me 
the benefit or propriety of being a sinnei', 
but everything to suggest the importance of 
being a Christian; and as to there being any 
temptations to pursue a sinful life, it seemed 
to me that there was as nearly no place for 
such things in our surroundings as could 
possibly be the case almost anywhere. 
" Death was staring us in the face " all the 
time, a perpetual reminder of the final judg- 
ment in the presence of God; and we were 
away from the unholy allurements of society 
life. There were some drinking and gambling 
at times among some soldiers, but these were 
not in such form nor to such extent as to 
carry with them the attractive force of a 
temptation. Few and uninviting were the 
forms of sin in the army; while, on the other 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 375 

hand, the incentives to piety were abnndant, 
and the methods of grace were allnring. 

When the companies composing the Thirty- 
fifth iVlabama Regiment went into the camp of 
instrnction at J^a Grange they at once select- 
ed Rev. Robert A. Wilson, a member of the 
Tennessee Conference, Methodist Episcopal 
(Jhni'ch, South, as their chaphiin, and ho 
promptly embarked in religious work among 
them, such as belonged to tlie duties of his 
position; so that it may be said that religion 
and warfare took an even start in this com- 
mand. The same fact may doubtless be 
stated with reference to most of the other 
regiments constituting the Confederate army. 
And that religion kept pace Avith the military 
movements of many commands may also be 
truthfully said. 

Brother Wilson remained with us as chap- 
lain nntil March 10, 18G3, when, owing to 
feeble health, he left us to engage in post and 
hospital duties. He was in the best sense a 
faithful servant of God, and did all that was 
possible under the various circumstances that 
surrounded ns to advance the spiritual inter- 



376 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

ests of the soldiers of our command. He 
was much loved, and in the full confidence 
of those whom he served in the Lord. He 
never failed to have daily religious services 
among us when it could be done, which he 
conducted himself, or had others to do; 
preaching as often as opportunity allowed 
and having prayer meeting services on other 
occasions. He was also the chief instrument 
in founding a Christian Association and de- 
veloping plans for its perpetuation while the 
war lasted, looking to cooperative work on 
the part of Christians of all denominations, 
and furnishing an asylum for all who were or 
desired to become the followers of Christ. 
It was the uppermost thought in my mind 
when joining the regiment to call a meeting, 
at the earliest opportunity, of all the Chris- 
tians in it, and to propose the organization 
of such an association; and I was proceeding 
to do so when I learned that Brother Wilson, 
with whom I just then became acquainted, 
had the matter already under advisement, in 
connection with others to whom he had pre- 
sented it. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 377 

To all intents and purposes, so to speak, we 
had a Christian Association of co-operative 
functions from the time that we entered fully 
into the Confederate service, but it was not un- 
til ^^ovember 27, 18(32, that the '' Christian As- 
sociation of the Thirty-fifth Alabama Regi- 
ment" was formally organized, with Consti- 
tution and By-laws. This was done while 
we were in camp at " Mouth of Tippah," 
Mississippi, and the officers elected were: 
President, B. M. Faris; Yice-presidents, J. 

E. jlS unn, A. T. Goodloe, Mealer, and 

Garrett; Recording Secretary, R. A. 

Wilson; Assistant Recording Secretary, A. 

F. Evans; Corresponding Secretary, Capt. 
Taylor. The Constitution and roll of tlie 
members fell into the hands of the enemy at 
Yicksburg after the battle of Baker's Creek. 
The members consisted of those who were 
professed Christians and those who were 
earnestly striving to become such. Regular 
meetings of the Association every Thursday 
night; prayer meeting every night, and 
preaching every Sunday — such was the ar- 
rangement agreed upon in regard to our 



378 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

stated meetings and religious services. In 
the matter of our religious meetings, strictly 
speaking, we had already been holding them 
after this manner in the main, but it was 
thought best that the Association, in its or- 
ganic capacity, assume the responsibility of, 
at least, fixing the time fur our several reli- 
gious gatherings. As to special revival serv- 
ices, we simpl}' engaged in them whenever 
and wherever we could, and in connection 
with whomsoever they might be begun or 
conducted. In our regular prayer meetings 
we would go from company to company, hav- 
ing them in one company one night, and 
in another company the next night, and so 
on until we met with all the companies of 
the regiment. Sometimes, however, our fa- 
cilities would be better for holding them at 
some particular place, say near the center of 
the regiment, and we would meet there from 
night to night. Congregations assembled 
for preaching wherever the best arrange- 
ments could be made to accommodate the 
greatest number of men, and sometimes we 
could get the use of a church near which 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 379 

we chanced to stop. In tlie camp, on the 
march, and along the lines of fortifications 
we continued throughout all our campaigns 
to hold our religious services of one kind or 
another. 

In prearranging for the organization of the 
Christian Association, Brother Wilson and I, 
after having talked the matter over in all its 
phases and bearings, determined to introduce 
the subject at the prayer meeting in Com- 
pany Ct Tuesda}' night, November 25, 1862; 
and this he did. Between ourselves we 
prayerfully considered the subject of Avho 
ought to be the President of it, and agreed 
that we would put the name of B. M. Faris 
in nomination for that position, who was at 
that time orderly sergeant of Company B, 
but subsequently one of its lieutenants. 
Faris was a Presbyterian, while most of us 
who were forward in religious work were 
Methodists, but it was our conscientious be- 
lief that some other than a Methodist should 
be at the head of the Association; and, be- 
sides, we had all confidence in Faris meeting 
fully the obligations of the position. Only 



380 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the Lord knew what Brother Wilson and I 
were doing in this matter, wherein we were 
planning for his glory; and I am sure that 
we were guided by the divine counsel. The 
proposition to inaugurate a Christian Asso- 
ciation was favorabl}^ receiv^ed by all present 
and a committee appointed to draft resolu- 
tions, a Constitution, etc., and report at our 
meeting the Thursday night following. The 
work of the committee was approved unani- 
mously on the night that they made their re- 
port, and the organization of the Association 
was effected in full. The committee consist- 
ed of R. A. Wilson, A. T. Goodloe, J. W. 

West, B. M. Faris, A. F. Evans, Mea- 

ler, and Garrett. 

We were, according to the Constitution, 
to elect officers every three months, and at 
every election Faris was made his own suc- 
cessor, and so continued to be President of 
the Association while the war lasted. Hav- 
ing sustained this relation to it during its en- 
tire existence, and being in every way wor- 
thy of the important and responsible position, 
it is but right that his name have special 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 381 

mention here. He died in Searcy, Ark., 
September 9, 1888, and the first notice that 
I saw of his death was embraced in the fol- 
lowing editorial note in the Christian Obser- 
ver of September 19, 1888 ; 

" Kev. B. M.Faris. 
"After going to press last week we re- 
ceived tidings of the death of this true- 
hearted servant of God. His death is one of 
the dispensations of Providence that are 
liard to understand. He was in the prime of 
life, endowed with a rare degree of spiritual- 
ity, together with a vigor of mind and a 
clearness of perception that are not often 
combined. He gave promise of great use- 
fulness in the Master's work on earth. 
Admitted to the ministry in 1874, he la- 
bored in Tennessee, serving the Churches at 
Humboldt and at Somerville effectively for 
ten or twelve years. He took charge of the 
work in South Frankfort, Ky., only about a 
year ago, but yielded to the repeated urgency 
of the people of Searcy, Ark., to the effect 
that he was needed there, and went to that 
place last spring. Tt is only a short time 



382 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

after his removal that we are called to mourn 
his death." 

Upon seeing this notice 1 at once prepared 
and had published in the Christian Ohserver 
and Christian Advocate the following com- 
munication : 

"Kev. Bluford M. Faris — His Army 
Life. 

"My acquaintance with Faris, as I was 
wont to call him, began at the organization 
of the Thirty-fifth Regiment, Alabama Vol- 
unteer Infantry. Myself a stranger at that 
time to most of the regiment, I at once 
sought out the chaplain, Re^■. K. A. Wilson, 
and through him was made acquainted with 
Sei-geant Faris, of Company B. Many very 
excellent Christian heroes were among those 
gallant warriors, but Faris had special gifts 
and graces which fitted him for more en- 
larged usefulness perhaps than others of his 
comrades. 

"A Christian Association was soon formed 
in our regiment, and as by common consent 
Faris was regarded as best suited for Presi- 
dent, and so was without o])])osition placed 



COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 38o 

ill that position. Afterwards, when Gen. 
'Abe ' Buford was our brigade commander, 
we organized ' Tlie First Christian Associa- 
tion of Buford's Brigade, C. S. A.,' into 
which our regimental association was merged. 
In the meanwhile Faris had become so fi-en- 
erally and favorably known that he was with 
one ^ oice made President of the brigade As- 
sociation. In this position he was contin- 
ued until the close of the war, ever faithfully 
and efficiently performing his official duties. 
All along he conducted a number of Bible 
classes also, with great benefit to himself 
and to his classes. 

"He was a young man when he enlisted 
in the army ' for the war,' and just beginning 
his preparation for the ministrj^ in the Pres- 
byterian Church. He was strikingly modest, 
humble, and unobtrusive, being altogether 
unconscious of his own eminent worth. He 
was well balanced, stead}^ and constant in 
his religious character and life, full of zeal 
and the Holy Ghost. He abounded in good 
works, and had his heart set on maintaining 
divine worship among the soldiers, and win- 



384 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

niug his iincoiivertecl comrades to Christ. 
For a long time we were without a chaplain, 
and very often without a preacher of any 
kind; but day after day, when the situation 
of the army would allow it, he would have us 
assemble for religious services, whether in 
camp or in the trenches. It was an everyday 
business. He never failed in his high pur- 
poses, nor evaded any responsibility whatev- 
er. An everyday Christian for everyday work, 
and for the long pull the world over — such a 
Christian was my noble friend and yokefel- 
low in the Lord and comrade in arms for 
our country's cause. He a Presbyterian and 
I a Methodist, both laymen then, we met at 
the cross of our common Master, and only 
knew each other as brethren in Christ Jesus. 
Our hearts were blended together in fraternal 
love, tender and enduring, which death itself 
cannot sever. Faris, we will love on through- 
out eternity! 

"Among his many gifts, of which I am in- 
adequate to do justice, God endowed him 
with an extraordinary voice, characterized 
for fullness and mellowness, and his articu- 



COKPEDERATE ECHOES. 385 

lation was superb. In exhortation, in prayer, 
and in song he was without a peer among 
us, as it seemed to me, and yet as artless as 
a child. When he ' raised the tune,' which 
we generally had him to do, all could easily 
join in; and though the singing was neces- 
sarily loud, as it came forth from assemblies 
of soldiers accustomed to the battle " yell," 
one could readily recognize at a distance his 
sonorous and articulate voice as he carried 
us onward and upward in the precious serv- 
ice of song and adoration to our God. 

" His rank in the army was first orderly 
sergeant, and afterward lieutenant. On ev- 
ery march and in every battle engaged in by 
his command I think he was on hand. In the 
military sense as in the religious, he endured 
hardness as a good soldier, and with remark- 
able cheerfulness. On the field of battle he 
was calm, collected, and dauntless. He 
fought to beat our country's foes, and had 
the faculty of imparting to others his reso- 
lute and persistent daring. His comrades 
Avere made better and braver by his presence 

among them, and no name was honored in all 
25 



386 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the army more than that of Bluford M. 
Faris." 

In contemplating the estahlishment of a 
Christian Association in our command, those 
who were the prime movers in inaugurating 
the enterprise had in mind the two prominent 
ideas of cooperative work by Christians of 
various denominations, and of furnishing an 
asylum, so to speak, for all who were or de- 
sired to become the followers of Christ. A 
number of Chvu'ches were represented among 
our soldiery, and it was worth our while to 
put ourselves in such relations to each other 
as that we would have a common understand- 
ing in regard to religious work, and be in ii 
situation to pull together in such work. Be- 
ing away also from the restraints of Chiu'ch- 
membership, it might be possible that some 
Avould break loose from their religious moor- 
ing and drift away into sin, the danger of 
which we believed might be obviated by hav- 
ing a kind of army Church into whose mem- 
bership the members of all Churches could 
come. Furthermore, and not of least impor- 
tance, was the consideration which related to 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 387 

those who might become earnest inquirers 
after truth — that they might be afforded help 
in an effective way, and a companionship of 
kindred spirits into w^hich they could enter 
with the utmost profit to their souls. 

Our preaching and social religious services 
were always seasons of grace and refreshing 
to us from the beginning of our military ca- 
reer, and great good was doubtless accom- 
plished by them, but it was not until we were 
near Davis's Mills, Miss., in September, 1862, 
that there was a distinctly marked revival 
meeting. This was not very extensive, how- 
ever, but exceedingly precious and joyous to 
many souls. It began simultaneously in the 
Thirty-fifth Alabama and Seventh Kentucky 
Regiments, Sunday, September 14, Brother 
Wilson preaching that morning in the Sev- 
enth Kentucky, and that night in our regi- 
ment. Unusual solemnity pervaded the con- 
gregations at both the services, which made 
it perfectly obvious that protracted and 
special efforts should be at once engaged in 
for the conversion of sinners. Fortunately, 
there was a church close by which we were 



388 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

allowed the use of, and in that we assembled 
for preaching and other religions services 
from day to day until the following Saturday 
night, when we were called away from the 
church to prepare rations for the next day, 
looking to a movement against the enemy 
that day. Brother Wilson did most of the 
preaching, and it was in the power and dem- 
onstration of the Spirit. A number of sin- 
ners were converted, precisely how many I 
do not know, and there was a bountiful spirit 
of rejoicing among the Christians in attend- 
ance. "Preaching again to-night," I say in 
my diary of September 18, " and a happy 
time we had. O how my soul was filled 
with the fullness of joy ! Thank God for the 
outpouring of his Spirit." It was high tide 
with us all through the meeting, but that 
was an especially good day Avith us, which 
we had begun by an experience and prayer 
meeting at the church. 

At the Mouth of Tippah, where we organ- 
ized our Christian Association, there was a 
decided religious influence manifest at a 
number of our meetings, though no special 



COMFEDERATE ECHOES. 880 

revival services were held. It was uniform- 
ly our custom, however, to make very direct 
appeals to the unconverted members of our 
congregations to turn away from sin at once 
and serve God, and they were constantly re- 
minded in the exhortations that were made 
to them that they were in imminent peril of 
their lives every day. Those of us who con- 
ducted the social religious services from time 
to time lost no opportunity nor occasion of 
warning our sinful comrades of the dangers 
that constantly threatened them, and of pre- 
senting the blessed Saviour to them as 
their only refuge and security. And I am 
sure that during our stay at " Camp Mouth 
of Tippah " there were many who were so 
impressed with the importance of becoming 
Christians that they did in reality begin re- 
ligious lives; there were, indeed, unmistaka- 
ble tokens that such was the case. 



CHAPTEK XYIII. 



Religious Meetings Here and There. 

DURIJS^G the time that we were at G-rena- 
da, the winter of 1862-63, we had many 
religious privileges, except for awhile when 
the weather was very severe, which we en- 
joyed very much. The Association meet- 
ings were delightful, and the membership in- 
creased considerably, the accessions being 
1)oth those Avho were professed Christians 
and those who were earnest inquirers after 
truth, the two classes who were invited to 
join. It was a rule of the Association, from 
its organization, to make a call for members 
at every meeting, and our hearts were con- 
stantly made to rejoice at seeing our beloved 
comrades in arms, professors and seekers of 
religion, identifying themselves with us in 
a work of so much importance to our own 
spiritual welfare, and of such value in behalf 
of others. We had no form of reception of 
(390) 



COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 891 

members, only invited them to come forward 
and have their names entered upon the reg- 
ister, but their reception in this simple man- 
ner was always impressive and often exceed- 
ingly touching. 

B}^ appointment of the Christian Associ- 
ation we observed while here Friday, De- 
cember 19, as a day of fasting and prayer 
"for the prosperity of the cause of Christ in 
our Confederacy and the establishment of 
our independence;" and an exceedingly in- 
teresting occasion it was to us. In all our 
meetings, from first to last, we were careful 
not to omit praying for our Confederacy, 
that the Lord would own us as his people, 
and for the success of our arms in the day of 
battle; and very earnest were the petitions 
that we offered at the throne of grace for 
these blessings to be granted to us, but it 
was deemed but right that a day be set apart 
from time to time as one of fasting and 
prayer in which to make special pleadings 
with God to dwell in our midst and save us 
from defeat by our foes. On occasions like 
those we entered with all heartiness into the 



392 CO-NIEDKKATE ECHOES. 

service, and the praying was of the most 
earnest and fervent nature. The destruc- 
tion of the enemy was not asked at any time, 
but that all their plans might come to 
naught, and they be put to the necessity of 
calling off their dogs of war and letting us 
alone. 

In our capacity as a Christian Association 
we set apart and observed a number of days, 
at different intervals, for fasting and prayer 
for the spread of Christ's kingdom in our 
armies, and for our independence as a gov- 
ernment; and we were very careful to ob- 
serve all thanksgiving and fast days appoint- 
ed by President Davis. 

Besides the regular preaching in camp by 
our chaplain while at Grenada, we had the 
opportunity of attending services frequently 
at the Methodist Church and hearing a num- 
ber of very able sermons. Eev. E. M. Mar- 
vin, D.D., subsequently a bishop in the 
Methodist EpiscoiDal Church, South, preached 
several times, and so forcibly and touchingly 
did he present the message of salvation to 
those who could hear him (the church w^ould 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 393 

not hold all that were anxious to hear him) 
that many turned from the paths of sin to 
those of righteousness. After preaching by 
him Sunday night, December 28, 1 say in my 
diary : " Brother Marvin preached a very 
touching sermon to-night to a packed house. 
There is deep interest on the subject of re- 
ligion among the soldiers. Many men will 
return to their homes better than when they 
left them." Dr. Kavanaugh, Rev. F. E. 
Pitts, and several other ministers, also 
preached for us, and effectively. 

Sunday, January 11, the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper was administered in the 
church, and it was a season of unusual joy 
and comfort to our souls; tears flowed down 
the cheeks of many warriors, and they felt 
that they were much nearer heaven than 
when they first believed. 

February 19, 1863, while camping near Ed- 
wards's Depot, Mississii^pi, the election of of- 
ficers of the Christian Association " for the 
ensuing quarter" took place, with the fol- 
lowing result : President, B. M. Faris; First 
Yice President, A. T. Goodloe; Second Yice 



394 CONFEDERATE ECHOES, 

President, Lieut. Stewart; Third Yice Presi- 
dent, Lient. Evans; Fourth Vice President, 
Lieut. Beckham ; Kecording Secretary, R. A. 
Wilson; Assistant Recording Secretary, H. 
E. Kellogg; Corresponding Secretary, Capt. 
Taylor; Librarian, Lieut. Patton. 

I did not note in every instance, it seems 
from my diary, the quarterly election of of- 
ficers of our Christian Association; how- 
ever, we were often prevented by the exi- 
gencies of military service from attending to 
this matter at the designated time, and so it 
was deferred, it may be, one or two quarters. 

At Port Hudson, March 18, 1863, Brother 
Wilson was elected an honorary member of 
the Christian Association, he having left us 
for post and hospital duty a few days before 
that time. At this place there was a consid- 
erable increase in the membership of the As- 
sociation, and more than ordinary solemnity 
characterized the congregations at our reli- 
gious meetings. The work of grace went 
steadily forward here, as it had been doing 
indeed all along before this, but a more deci- 
ded and manifest impetus was given it than 



COISrrEDEKATE ECHOES. 395 

was usual at our ordinary stated services, and 
more distinct evidences of the prcconce of 
the Holy Spirit in our midst were clearly to 
be seen. March 29 1 say in my diary : " I 
believe a revival has already commenced in 
our midst, and I praise God for it." 

The resignation of our beloved chaplain 
while here greatly grieved those of us who 
were trying to uphold the banner of Christ 
in our command, and caused us much uneasi- 
ness in regard to the leadership and manage- 
ment of Christian work thereafter. He had 
while with us been our chief counselor and 
prop, and we saw not how we could move 
forward without his valuable suggestions and 
help in other ways. We had indeed leaned 
upon him more than we were conscious of 
having done until he left us; which he did 
with great reluctance, and only because his 
condition of health required him to do so. 
We tearfully asked one another what must 
be done, and determined that at the meeting 
of the Association March 25 volunteers be 
called for "to take the lead in conducting 
our prayer meetings and such other religious 



o96 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

services as it is competent for laymen to 
hold." The call having been made, the fol- 
lowing volunteers reported for such duties : B. 

M. Faris, A. T. Goodloe, Taylor, A. F. 

Evans, J. W. West, I. L. Pride, Beck- 
ham, and Weatherford. This " Social 

Band," as it was named by President Paris 
when calling for volunteers for the work in- 
dicated, was soon strengthened by others 
joining it. It was to us all a very great un- 
dertaking to embark as leaders in religious 
services and movements among our comrades, 
but there were some who found it particu- 
larly embarrassing to do so. 

Those of ns who first volunteered met to- 
gether by agreement in a secluded spot in 
the woods Sunday morning, March 29, for 
prayer and consultation that we might be 
qualified in all needful measure for the work 
we had undertaken, and to make such ar- 
rangements as we could for special revival 
services in the regiment. In great earnest- 
ness and humility and faith Ave implored wis- 
dom from on high to be imparted to us in 
this our time of imminent need, and that we 



COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 397 

might have the baptism of the. Holy Spirit 
upon us, and the sweet tokens of the divine 
pleasure were with us while we thus prayed 
together. We felt that the ties of brotherhood 
bound us closer together than ever before, 
though there was no lack of love amono- us 
theretofore, and we declared our readiness, the 
one to the other, to enter upon such Chris- 
tian labors with renewed zeal as seemed best 
for the spiritual well-being of our comrades 
and the glory of God. Our communion with 
one another and with God was inexpressibly 
precious, and the experiences into which we 
entered were of the most comforting and joy- 
ous nature. To our God, to each other, and 
to our command we bound ourselves in a 
covenant which was never broken, to go for- 
ward and continue in the w^ork which, rely- 
ing upon God, we had undertaken. What 
the fruits of this meeting were cannot be 
known until we reach the inheritance of the 
saints on high, where, I feel sure, every 
member of that " Social Band " will go. So 
mote it be! 

There was another meeting April 2, not of 



398 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the " Social Band," but still more touching, 
in which I was called upon to take part, and 
which is worthy to be placed on record in 
this connection. Just before dinner on this 
day Capt. Taylor sent word to me that he 
wanted to see me at his tent. I immediately 
went, and found him prostrated in an agony 
of grief, caused by having just learned of the 
death of his child — his only child. With 
tears and sobbings he made known to me the 
sorrowful fact, and let me know that he had 
sent for me to pray with him and give him 
what comfort I could in his great sorrow. 
We sought the quiet of the woods not far 
from camp, where we remained about two 
liours. My heart was overrun with sympa- 
thy for him, and the more so as two children 
of my own were in the grave; and I pleaded 
ibr the presence of the Comforter with him 
with all the eagerness and faith that T was 
capable of. Many of the precious promises 
of the Bible also came to mind, and these 
were readily grasped by him as a sure sup- 
port. Before the meeting closed his grief 
was turned to gladness, and we returned to 



CONFEDEllATE ECHOES. 399 

camp abounding- in the love of God, and more 
than ever consecrated to his service. 

After returning from a meeting of the 
Christian Association the night of March 25, 
I found the negro cooks, teamsters, etc., of 
our regiment engaged in a prayer meeting in 
the rear of the tent occupied by my mess, 
which was very interesting to me. 1 went 
quietly into the tent, not letting them know 
that I had returned, and lay down. I could 
easily hear all that they said, and was very 
much impressed with the earnestness and 
sincerity of their devotions. They not only 
prayed for the religious prosperity of com- 
mand, but also for the success of our arms 
in the day of battle. They were in slavery, 
but they preferred not the domination of the 
enemy in our Southland. 

During our stay at Port Hudson (March 
3 to April 4, 1863) we had much religious 
enjoyment, albeit we suffered no little anx- 
iety for the success of the work in which we 
were engaged for the Master without the 
presence and help of a chaplain, and there 
was unquestionably a distinct advance alon^^ 



400 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the line of personal consecration to the serv- 
ice of God, and a considerable enlargement 
of the borders of Zion. As laymen in the 
Church we went away from Port Hudson more 
determined than ever to keep the banner of 
Christ unfurled in the army while the war 
lasted, and to carr}^ forward such enterprises 
as would best promote the religious interests 
of our fellow-soldiers in our country's cause. 
Our prayer meetings and Christian Asso- 
ciation meetings became more and more 
pleasant and profitable to us, but it is not 
needful that I speak of them in detail, my 
purpose being to speak somewhat fully of the 
occasions of extraordinary religious interest, 
special revival meetings, etc., in which mem- 
bers of our command took part. Forest Sta- 
tion, Miss., was the next place in order where 
we engaged in a revival series of services, 
resultino- in the end in the conversion of a 
great many soldiers, and bringing unusual 
joy to the hearts of all the Christians. xVfter 
the evacuation of Jackson it will be remem- 
bered that we fell back to several points on 
the Southern railroad, Forest Station among 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 401 

the rest. "We reached this place July 29, 
1863, and left there August 11. 

Very early after our arrival there arrange- 
ments were made for brigade preaching, 
there being at that time several visiting 
preachers along with the army, who, I sup- 
pose, fell back from their homes as we re- 
tired. A place convenient to the brigade 
was selected, and, it being in the woods, the 
undergrowth was cut away. A good many 
seats were made with logs and poles, but 
many of the men sat on the ground, there 
not being sufficient sitting room for all who 
attended the services. Elevated scaffolds 
were built at a number of places around that 
occupied by the congregation, upon which 
to build fires for light. The scaffolds were 
constructed with forks and poles, and a thick 
layer of dirt placed upon them to protect 
them against the fires. Immediately in front 
of the preacher were poles resting in low 
forks, at which penitents were invited to 
kneel. We had preaching at this place 
morning and night, mostly by Eev. Mr. 
Cooper, of the Cumberland Presbyterian 



402 CO^s^FEDERATE ECHOES. 

Church, whom I had never seen before. He 
drew ns all to him at once, and secured the 
hearty and active cooperation of the Chris- 
tians of the connnand. The order of the 
services, as announced from the stand, was: 
" Prayer meeting at 8 o'clock a.m., preaching 
at 9 o'clock, and preaching at night." 

It is utterly impossible to express our ap- 
preciation of such services as these, which 
were conducted after the manner of revival 
services where the " mourner's bench " is 
recognized. Tliere were many earnest mourn- 
ers and many glad conversions, and Chris- 
tians were nuide happy in the Lord. The 
preaching, the exhorting, the praying, the 
singing — these were all done with the utmost 
fervor and directness, and accomplished, ])y 
God's blessing, large and gracious results. 

Much wickedness had been observed in 
])ortions of our army, especially in the way 
of gambling, for some time previous to this 
meeting, Avhich caused much sadness to those 
who were working for Christ, but after this 
r, at least, saw but slight displays of wick- 
edness of any kind. 



OOJfFEDERATE ECHOES. 403 

We went from Forest Station to Newton, 
at which place we arrived August 12, and 
went into camp two miles beyond. Here we 
remained until August 29. The revival went 
with us, and continued throughout our stay 
here, increasing from day to day in volume 
and interest; it was indeed a tremendous re- 
vival in all the characteristics of an extensive 
and genuine work of grace. A great many 
sinners were converted, and the Christians 
were constantly happy in the love of God. 
Field and company officers and privates 
worked and prayed together, or kneeled as 
penitents together, at our rude altar place. 
There were many " altar workers," and they 
were ready at every service, when not kept 
away by military duties, which was at times 
the case, to instruct and encourage the 
mourners, and to pray for their conversion. 

It is beautiful to see people seeking re- 
ligion under any circumstances, but when 
we looked upon our soldier comrades coming 
to Christ we were drawn toward them with 
cords of resistless tenderness. There were 
Church members at our meetings ^vho, at 



404 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

home, had been opposed to altar exercises, 
but thej broke over all their prejudices, and 
became exceedingly effective altar workers. 
One of them who had witnessed the conver- 
sion of a number of penitents to whom he 
had talked at one of our night services said 
to me as we walked back to camp after the 
benediction: "■ Goodloe, I am afraid I have 
done wrong to-night, having worked in the 
altar as I did, contrary to the teachings that 
I have received in the Church to which I 
belong. Well, 1 am sorry if I did wrong, 
which in my heart I cannot feel that I did; 
but when I saw those soldier boys begging 
for mercy at the hands of God, I could not but 
give them such help as I was capable of; for 
I knew them, that they were brave and hon- 
est men. After all that I have heard against 
the mourners' bench, I must confess that 
there are no reasonable objections that T can 
urge against altar exercises." And he worked 
on with increasing avidity and effectiveness 
and with much joy to his own soul. 

Ever since ray connection with the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, South, T had been 



COI^^FEDERATE ECHOES. 405 

very fond of the " mourners' bench " exer- 
cises, and of course did what I could to 
help the mourning soldiers to Christ; and I 
praise God that I have often been permitted 
to see those with whom I have labored and 
prayed accept him in faith and love. During 
our army meetings some of my most delight- 
ful religious experiences were caused by see- 
ing those profess religion in whom, in the 
name of the Lord, I had taken special inter- 
est. In my diary of August 26 I made a note 
of the conversion of 'William Myers while 
lying in my lap. It was at the night service, 
and the altar place was filled with mourners, 
Myers among the rest. I was going from 
one to another on my knees, instructing and 
encouraging them. When I came to Myers 
he turned from the altar pole and leaned upon 
me, and I sat down on the ground so that I 
could more easily support him. His agony 
was intense, but brief, and presently he was 
happily converted. Concerning his final ef- 
forts and conversion I say in my diary : " O 
how beautiful it is to see the dead struggle 
into life!" 



4:06 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

During our meeting here at Kewton we 
had the sacrament of the Lord's Supper ad- 
ministered to us at our preaching place in 
the woods where our meeting was being hekl, 
Sunday, August 16, after preaching by 
Brother Jones, the Methodist pastor former- 
13^ at Canton. It was another one of those 
occasions of which it is impossible to speak 
so as to do justice to it; it was lovely be- 
yond description. I simply say in my diary : 
"The scene was solemn and sublime." 

Our arraigeuients for preaching here were 
about the same that they were at Forest Sta- 
tion, though perhaps a little more elaborate, 
and we selected a densely shaded place on 
a creek some distance from camp. Where 
the mourners knelt by the altar poles we 
kept the ground well covered with green 
twigs cut from the limbs of bushes and trees 
to protect them from the gi'ound as much as 
possible. These were made the more neces- 
sary on account of several rains that fell dur- 
ing the meeting, and they were renewed 
from time to time as necessity required. 

We provided ourselves with a blowing 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 407 

horn here at the beginning of our meeting, 
and appointed one of the soldiers to blow it 
as the signal for j)i*eaching, and found it a 
great convenience. My brother-in-law and 
messmate, W. Pike Cockrill, soon found a 
&maller and better-shaped horn which he fin- 
ished up very nicely, inscribing upon it also 
the name of our Christian Association, and 
gave it to us. This we kept with great care, 
and used it to blow for all religious services, 
indicating thereby the time and place of 
tlie meeting. Its note soon became familiar 
tln-oughout our entire encampment, and the 
object for which it Avas blown understood. 
It was not only used in connection with our 
stated services, but was also employed to 
call together congregations for worship when 
no previous announcement had been made, 
as when a preacher would come unexpected- 
ly into camp and would consent to preach 
for us, or when we wanted a called meeting 
of the Christian Association, or a special 
prayer meeting, etc. The sound of the horn 
was the invitation to come together for wor- 
ship at once, and at the place where the horn 



408 COKPEDEKATE ECHOES. 

sounded. We put it in the keeping of Faris, 
as President of our Association, and he gen- 
erally had Pike Cockrill to blow it, which he 
did admirably. -When the war closed Faris 
took this sacred war relic home with him, 
but, having left it with some one when he 
went to Virginia to complete his theological 
studies, it became misplaced, and he never 
could find it again. Long after the war end- 
ed he wanted to put it into my hands for 
some special reasons, but, to his surprise, it 
was not where he thought it was. I adver- 
tised for it several years ago, but have never 
been able to recover it. I still hope to find 
it. The finisher of it was my wife's brother, 
and with these fin^'ers of mine with which I 
now write I closed his eyes in death at Cul- 
leoka, Tenn., IMarch 8, 1884. 

The ministers that helped in our I^ewton 
meetings were Brothers Cooper, Ross, Jones, 
and Grifiin, of Mississippi; Mclnnis, of ]!^ew 
Orleans; and McCutchon, chaplain of the 
Seventh Kentucky Regiment. All of them 
preached the pure gospel with soul-stirring 
earnestness, and did the listening soldiers in- 



co:n^fei>ekate echoes. 409 

calculable good, though Brothers Ross and 
Cooper, both Cumberland Presbyterians, 
preached oftenest. Brother Jones was with 
us August 14-18, and preached a number of 
times and exceedingly acceptably while 
with us. So well pleased was our regiment 
with him that, by a unanimous vote of the 
Christian Association after he left, and after 
consultation with Col. Goodwin, he was invit- 
ed to become our chaplain. He took the mat- 
ter under prayerful consideration, and was 
anxious to comply with our request, but he 
was under such obligations elsewhere that 
he could not serve us. 

Witli Brother McCutchon we had for 
some time been well acquainted, and he was 
dearly loved in our regiment, which he visit- 
ed right often. The Seventh Kentucky Reg- 
iment was fortunate in having him for their 
chaplain, as he was in every way suited for 
the position. He adjusted himself to army 
life as easily as did any private soldier, and 
had a heart full of love for those whom he 
served in the gospel. A true man and min- 
ister he was in every sense; and his preach- 



410 CONFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

ing and advices were always much apprecia- 
ted and very profitable. He was a member of 
the Memphis Conference, Methodist Episco- 
pal Chnrch, South. 

It was not thought best by the preachers 
conducting these meetings to offer an oppor- 
tunity for Church membership to those who 
Avere converted, but they were advised to 
send their names to their home Churches for 
membership there, and to engage at once in 
Christian labors in the army. We had many 
accessions to our Christian Association, as 
one of the results of the meetings, and of 
those who were not members of our regi- 
ment as well as those who wei'c; for we 
opened the doors of it to all soldiers who 
wished to join it, and could meet the condi- 
tions of membership. 



CHAPTEK XIX. 



Religious Meetings, Etc. 

FKOM Newton we went to Morton, where 
we remained until September 30, camping- 
about two miles southwest of this place. 
The visiting preachers who had been so val- 
uable to us in our religious meetings did not 
come with us here, but the revival services 
were continued by Brother McCutchon, the 
only chaplain then in our brigade. There 
were two or three licensed preachers, with 
limited experience, among the soldiers, who 
rendered him what assistance they could, and 
the lay workers cooperated freely with him. 
The brigade preaching continued most of the 
time that we were at Morton, and the services 
held were all the more advantageous to us 
because, in the absence of the ministerial 
help that we had had, we were put to the ne- 
cessity of leaning more entirely upon the 

(411) 



-112 COJSFFEDEKAIE ECHOES. 

Lord. Brother McCntchon was a noble 
leader, and did splendid work for the Master, 
but, after awhile, being overcome by weari- 
ness, he was put to the necessity of closing 
the series of meetings, which were begun at 
Forest Station nearly two months before. 

When this meeting (which we called bri- 
gade preaching) closed religious services of 
one kind and another were held daily in the 
several regiments of the brigade, thus keep- 
ing aglow the revival fires which had been 
kindled so gloriously in our midst. At these 
regimental meetings, which were sometimes 
preaching services, though generally prayer 
and experience meetings, similar methods 
were employed in conducting them as had 
characterized our brigade services, and a 
goodly number of soldiers were converted. 

Altogether, at the brigade and regimental 
services, there were many precious souls 
brought from nature's darkness into the mar- 
velous light and liberty of God's people dur- 
ing our stay at Morton, besides the great 
comfort and encouragement that was afford- 
ed the Christian workers. There were also 



COISTFEDERATE ECHOES. 413 

many mourners who, though not making an 
open profession of religion, gave evidence of 
having entered upon newness of life in Christ 
Jesus. 

While here at Morton we received a good 
supply of Bibles, Testaments, hymn books, 
and tracts, which had heretofore been or- 
dered. The need of these we had felt very 
keenly for some time in carrying forward our 
religious undertakings, but they could not 
have reached us at a time that they would 
have been more appreciated, or that the sol- 
diers would have been in a better frame of 
mind to have been profited by them. They 
came to a multitude of new converts to the 
religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to 
many more who were earnest inquirers aft- 
er the truth, not to speak of the Christian 
workers who stood in need of an abundant 
supply of such utensils in performing their 
labors. To be sure, there were many of us 
who were never without our pocket Bibles, 
but there w^ere many others who had none, 
having lost theirs or worn them out, if they 
brought them from their homes; but we stood 



-114 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

in need of other religious literature besides 
the Bible, and especially did we have an ur- 
gent need for a good supply of hymn books. 
What a mighty chorus of voices there was 
raised in songs of praises to our God by the 
soldiers when the hymn books were given 
ont in the congregations! 

Canton was our next stopping place, and 
here we spent most of the winter of 1863-64. 
To this place the revival went with us, and 
there abode, having its developments not only 
in the conversion of many other precious 
souls to Christ, and much reformation other- 
wise, but in establishing mau}^ new converts 
and older Christians in the fixed habits of la- 
borers in the vineyard of the Lord. Our 
camp while in the vicinity of Canton was 
two and one-half miles southeast of that 
place, near a creek, and on very good ground. 

At our daily prayer meetings here we 
made it a rule to call for mourners, laymen 
though we were, as we were about to close, 
and it was almost invariably the case that 
some came forward. With these we en- 
gaged in special ])rayer for a short while, and 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 415 

every now and then some of them were con- 
verted. 

On October 9 several visiting preachers 
came into camp, among- them Brothers Cooper 
and Harrington; and that night the former 
preached, and we began another series of re- 
vival services. We had already prepared ns 
a brigade preaching place, with larger ac- 
commodations than those we had theretofore 
had, and built over it for shade a large bush 
arbor. All were ready to charge again the 
"citadels of sin" under the leadership of 
these excellent ministerial brethren, and the 
first service was an onward movement. 

Brother Harrington preached the next 
morning, and Brother Cooper the next night. 
That was Saturday, and we had arranged for 
Brother Harrington to preach again Sunday 
morning, and Brother Cooper Sunday night. 
On Sunday morning, to our surprise, Elder 
Burns, upon invitation of Gen. Buford, came 
to preach to us, and we were a little afraid 
that some unpleasantness might grow out of 
the unexpected clashing of appointments; 
but Brother Burns, upon seeing that we had 



416 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the meeting* in hand and had made other ar- 
rangements, consented readily to our man- 
agement of the meeting, and we arranged for 
him to preach that afternoon and several 
times afterward. Thei^e was nothing wrong 
in Gen. Buford's wanting his friend to preach 
to his brigade, but we smiled at the thought, 
and passed around a few pleasantries, that 
our brave commander should^jreswme to make 
the appointment of a preacher to conduct re- 
ligious services, which we of the "rank and 
file " had taken in hand. We knew, howev- 
er, that he intended no disrespect to us b}'^ 
making the appointment, and we fouiul his 
friend to be a very pleasant Christian gentle- 
man. 

The meeting went on joyfully and prosper- 
ously, mourners constantly crowding the al- 
tar place, and souls being converted from 
time to time. The altar workers were now 
like trained veterans, and left nothing un- 
done which they could accomplish to set for- 
ward the spiritual interests of those who were 
crying to God for mercy. 'Not only so, but 
they urged those who were not seeking relig- 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 417 

ion to begin at once to do so. In the midst of 
our meeting, while the visiting brethren were 
with us, we were interrupted by having to go 
up to Grenada to turn back a Yankee raid, 
and also to go out in the direction of Living- 
ston for tlie same purpose; but these expedi- 
tions did not cool off the revival fervor at all, 
and so we went on with our meetings as soon 
as we returned to camp. We had much to 
do, to be sure, besides attending religious 
meetings; but these things we did, and left 
not the others undone. 

After Brothers Cooper and Harrington left 
others came to preach for us at times, though 
the services were more frequently altogether 
in the hands of laymen, some of whom exhib- 
ited no little preaching ability. Brother Cof- 
fey came to the brigade about the 1st of 
IJiTovember to act as Chaplain of the Twenty- 
seventh Alabama Regiment, and a most ex- 
cellent and faithful minister he was. Broth- 
er McCutchon, our " old stand-by," was al- 
ways in labors abundant, but he preferred 
that we use the visiting preachers as much as 

possible while their services were available, 
27 



il8 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

thus husbanding his strength and resources 
for occasions when no other help was at hand. 

On and on, from da}' to day, we went with 
our meetings until our departure from Can- 
ton. They were always well attended, and 
although some of them were more interesting 
than others, they were all seasons of refresh- 
ing to us. When we had no preacher with 
us we conducted the service in the regular 
order of public worship generally, the leader 
reading a portion of Scripture and giving 
such explanation of it as he could, which an- 
swered in the place of a sermon, unless it 
was sti'ictly a prayer meeting that we were 
holding. All along, also, we were very care- 
ful to remember and observe our Christian 
Association meetings, which blessed work 
grew among us constantly in interest and 
profit. 

At the i-equest of the pastor, I suppose. 
Brother McCutchon held a meeting at the 
Methodist Church in Canton, November 15- 
27, which was participated in largely by the 
soldiers, though by many citizens also. Serv- 
ices were only held at night, and we 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 419 

arranged our meeting in camp during that 
time so that we could attend at both places. 
It was an excellent meeting in every partic- 
ular, and there were quite a number of con- 
versions. During the meeting, Sunday, 
November 22, the sacrament of the Lord's 
Supper was administered at the morning 
service, after preaching by Brother Wheat, 
an army missionarj'-. It is impossible to 
con^'ey any idea of our appreciation of the 
blessed privilege of thus commemorating the 
sufferings and death of our precious Saviour 
in the army. Thank God for the opportu- 
nities that were afforded us for so doing! 

While at Canton it got to be quite com- 
mon for soldiers recently converted to be re- 
ceived by different preachers into the several 
Churches which they represented, those re- 
ceiving baptism to whom it had not previ- 
ously been administered. A large number 
connected themselves thus with Churches, 
and their names were sent home, whenever 
it could be done, to be entered on the 
Church registers there. 

Faris and I formed several Bible classes 



420 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

while we were here, which we continued to 
conduct to the close of the war. We had no 
commentaries nor other Scripture helps, but 
we made a very close study of chapter by 
chapter and verse by verse in an earnest, 
prayerful manner, and we felt that, by the 
help of the Holy Spirit, we learned much of 
the Word of God. We became more and 
more endeared to it as we engaged thus in 
the study of it, and experienced daily that it 
was indeed a lamp to our feet and light to 
our path while passing through the sevei-e 
ordeals of fratricidal warfare. 

We also enlarged our supply of religious 
literature while here: books, papers, tracts, 
etc., all of which was " greedily devoured " 
by the soldiers at large. We had no fears of 
religious publications not being read, our 
only apprehension being that the demand 
could not be supplied. The harvest which 
came from this sowing is only known to 
God, but was abundant, I am sure. 

As the winter began to come on, and the 
weather became uncertain, we found that we 
must stop our brigade meetings or build a 



COKFEDERATK ECHOES. 421 

church to hold them in. The latter we did. 
It was a somewhat rude structure, built of 
split logs and boards, and having a ground 
floor covered with straw, but it was suffi- 
ciently comfortable to answer our purposes, 
and was unquestionably a potent means of 
grace to us. I doubt if Solomon loved the 
house that he built at Jerusalem more than 
we loved the one that w^e built at Canton, 
nor do I suppose that the Lord honored the 
former with his presence more certainly than 
he did the latter. From that army house, as 
also from many other rude fixtures for meet- 
ing purposes, many souls started to heaven, 
a sufiicient token of the divine pleasure rest- 
ing upon such preparation as we could make 
to carry forward the ark of the Lord among 
soldiers engaged in active warfare. 

Before leaving Canton our Christian As- 
sociation underwent a change of name and 
reorganization. It had already virtually be- 
come a brigade association, others than those 
of our regiment having joined it, and so it 
was named Tlie First Christian Association 
of BuforcVs Brigade. It was called '• first " 



J122 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

because no other brigade association had be- 
fore this been formedj and it was thought 
that others might be hei-eafter. A new Con- 
stitution was framed, and under it the reor- 
ganization was effected and officers elected 
January 6, 186J:. 

It had been our custom for some time not 
only to offer an opportunity for those to join 
the Association who wished to become mem- 
bers of it, at the close of our regular meet- 
ings, but also to call for volunteers to lead 
in such religious exercises as we conducted 
in the absence of a preacher, and these fea- 
tures became permanently attached to our 
brigade organization. I have preserved a 
copy of the Constitution framed at Canton, 
together w^ith the names of many of the mem- 
bers and those w^ho volunteered to lead in our 
religious meetings. 

The officers elected at the time of the re- 
organization were: President, B. M. Faris; 
First Vice President, R W. Millsaps; Sec- 
ond Vice President, J. "W. West; Third Yice 
President, A. F. Evans; Fourth Yice Presi- 
dent, J. E. Kunn; Recording Secretary, W. 



COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 423 

L. Phifer; -Vssistant Recording Secretary, 
H. E. Kellogg; Corresponding Secretary, A. 
T. Goodloe; Librarian, AV. G. Whitfield. 

The following is a list of those who volun- 
teered, while at Canton, to conduct divine 
worship at our various religious meetings in 
the absence of a minister of the gospel: B. 

M. Faris, A. T. Goodloe, A. F. Clark, 

Livingston, J. M. Pearce, E. M. Odom, J. W. 
West, J. E. ]V[unn, H. M. Terry, IS^ B. Etli- 
ridge, R. F. Parker, J. F. Harrison, L. E. 
Hall, J. N. Sandlin, J. Hammock, L, A. 
Terry, S. Skelley, W. Myers, W.W. Morris, 
A. F. Evans, J. IL Davidson, W. G. Whit- 
field, W. T. Hargrove. 

The Preamble to the Constitution was as 
follows : 

" Whereas the undersigned, j^rofessed fol- 
lowers of Christ and earnest inquirers after 
the truth, cut off as we are from such Church 
associations as are afforded for the comfort 
and support of the more peaceful dwellers at 
home, realizing the want of some organiza- 
tion to assist us in the Avorship of God, that 
we may be established in his most hol}^ faith, 



4:24 CONFEDEKATS ECHOES. 

rooted and grounded in his love, and grow 
In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; and 
for the purpose of developing and giving 
higher tone to the moral and religious senti- 
ments of those with whom the fortunes of 
war associate us, do hereby adopt the fol- 
lowing Constitution." 

We were never troubled with denomina- 
tionalism to any serious extent at any time, 
in connection with our religious work, but a 
preacher was with us a short while at Can- 
ton who, many of us feared, would give us 
trouble in this direction, as he exhibited a 
decided disposition to magnify the peculiar 
dogmas of his Church. There were no divis- 
ions created among us, however. Some- 
times in social conversation we would speak 
of the lines of demarcation between the 
Churches, but never in a spirit of contro- 
versy. It was generally done to gain informa- 
tion, or for some other innocent purpose. Tn 
connection with this matter a pleasant inci- 
dent occurred in my hut at Canton. Evans, 
Faris, Whitfield, and I were in conversation. 
Evans was a Cumberland Presbyterian; Far- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 425 

is, a Presbyterian; Whitfield, a Baptist; and 
I, a Methodist. Evans, apologetically, intro- 
duced the subject of falling from grace, for 
the purpose of ascertaining what scripture 
and ai'gument supported each one of us in 
the positions which we held. Of course we 
made him speak first; and he told us why he 
believed apostasy impossible. Whitfield spoke 
next, and expressed himself about as Evans 
did. Faris, always modest, insisted that he 
be the last speaker, and so it was now my 
time to give a reason for my faith in regard 
to this dogma; but, instead of doing so, I 
moved that we use all diligence to make our 
calling and election sure, that we labor in the 
vineyard of the Lord with ever increasing 
earnestness, and that we make no efibrt to 
lose our religion in order to test the possibil- 
ity of such a thing. Faris seconded the mo- 
ton with a gusto, and it was unanimously 
carried in the same style. 

Although the visiting preachers who came 
at times into camp did us much good, we felt 
constantly the need of a chaplain to abide in 
our midst, take the general oversight, at 



4:26 CONFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

least of our meetings, and perform various 
pastoral functions among the soldiers. We 
were constantly on the lookout for some one 
suited to the position, but could never get a 
successor to our dear Brother AVilson. 

Our first stopping place after we left 
Canton was Demopolis, Ala., where wo 
were in camp a short while in February, 
1864. Here our daily religious services were 
altogether delightful, though there were no 
special revival efforts put forth, albeit the 
revival fires were still burning brightly in 
our hearts and in our midst. At the meeting 
of the Cbi'istian Association here I had the 
pleasure of reading communications to us 
from Bishop Paine and Rev. Thomas O. 
Summers, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, commending us for our la- 
boi-s in Christ Jesus, and encouraging us to 
still abound therein. These letters were as 
cordial to our souls, and with a rising vote 
we unanimously and heartily thanked the 
authors for writing them. 

jS^ear Newburg, N^orth Alabama, the 
Twenty-seventh and Thirty-fifth Alabama 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 427 

Kegiments camped April 1-10, 1864, and 
here we had some very precious meetings in 
a chnrch close by. Brothers F. S. Petway 
and J. D. Barbee preached several times 
here for ns acceptably and effectively, be- 
sides other religious services that we held in 
the church. The work of grace moved on, 
though there are no conversions at this place 
noted in my diary. 

These two regiments were at Courtland 
April 16-27, and here we had daily services 
in the church, having the ministrations of 
Kevs. Joseph White and Felix R. Hill, of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
Coffey, of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church. The meeting was characterized by 
great religious fervor and revival power. 
Many penitents were at the altar of prayer, 
and nearly twenty souls were converted. 
The tide of rejoicing ran high, and our re- 
ligious gladness was unrestrained. In the 
midst of the meeting, April 27, we received 
marching orders, and left at noon. I say in 
my diary: ^'We part with the good people 
of Courtland with many tears." 



4:28 CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

While our army was on the "Kenncsaw 
line " in Georgia in the summer of 1864, 
though in the trenches pretty much all the 
time, we managed to find frequent opportu- 
nities for assembling for divine worship, 
though generally the enemy, from a distance, 
would be firing at us with their long-range 
cannons and rifles. We would hear the 
noise of their passing shot and shell, but 
none of them ever fell among us while we 
were engaged in worship. They were gen- 
erally prayer meetings that we had while 
here, though occasionally a minister would 
drop in with us and preach for us. Rev. 
Robert A. Wilson, our old chaplain, sur- 
prised and delighted us with a visit July 1, 
2, and preached to large and attentive au- 
diences both those days. He would have 
remained longer had not orders reached us, 
the last evening he was with us, to be ready 
to move at a moment's notice. His pres- 
ence gladdened all our hearts, and he ex- 
pressed great joy at seeing the religious in- 
terest, which he had formerly done so much 
to promote, still being actively maintained 
in our command.. 



CONFEDEKATE ECHOES. 429 

After leaving Kennesaw we made a brief 
stand north of the Chattahoochee River, and 
then crossed over this stream to a strong- po- 
sition " in front of Atlanta." Before settling- 
down in this position we lingered for awhile 
above it, there seeming to be an imminent 
probability of an open field engagement with 
the enemy. During this interval, so to 
speak, our regiment was close to the Forty- 
ninth Alabama, in which a meeting was con- 
ducted by aMethodist preacher named Hullet. 
All who could from our regiment attended 
these services, which were characterized by 
convicting and converting grace. There were 
quite a number of conversions and accessions 
to the Church; and although these men got 
religion under fire, so to speak, they never- 
theless gave sure evidence that it was the 
" old-time religion " that they had. 

It will be remembered that we were in 
those days in the midst of as active military 
operations as Gen. Sherman with his 100,000 
invaders could make them, as onward he 
constantly came, bending all his energies 
and using his mightiest efforts to overwhelm 



430 COXFEDEKATE ECHOES. 

our gallant, resisting force of less than half 
the number of men. It was incessant war- 
fare in its most violent and gigantic forms 
in which we were then engaged, but the 
worship of God was maintained in one form 
or another with unabating constancy and 
zeal. As I look, at this remote day from 
those trying and bloody times, into my diary 
my heart is greatlj^ touched with the notes 
that I then made, and I feel like praising 
God in loftiest strains for the blessed privi- 
leges he then afforded us of honoring his 
name and laboring for the salvation of our 
fellow-soldiers, and foi* the limitless bene- 
dictions which were bestowed upon us from 
on high. While persistently confronting 
the foes of our country, we with none the 
less determination withstood, by divine 
grace, the encroachment of the adversary of 
souls. In this connection I will here give 
a few personal items from my army diary: 

Sunday, July 17, was "'• clear and pleas- 
ant." " In the morning I met and heard 
my Bible class, after which I attended 
preaching in the Forty-ninth Alabama Keg- 



COXFEDEIiATE ECHOES. 431 

imeiit by Brother Hullet. In the afternoon 
we had a good prayer meeting" in our regi- 
ment conducted by Lieut. Evans. At night 
I went to preaching again in the Forty- 
ninth Alabama Regiment, and witnessed the 
reception of several men into the Church. 
The Lord is greatly blessing us." 

"July 20. Generally clear. This morn- 
ing I met my Bible class as usual, and had 
a good time studying the Scriptures. At 12 
o'clock we are called to ' attention,' move 
some distance to the right, and then go for- 
ward into battle — the battle of Peach Tree 
Creek." 

" July 28. Clear and warm. We have 
been prevented by heavy fatigue and picket 
duty for several days from attending to re- 
ligious services in the regiment. I heard 
my Bible class this morning, which was an 
interesting and profitable occasion to us all. 
At noon we move to the left where a battle 
was begun, to support the front line of at- 
tack, and are subjected to heavy fire, losing 
several of our men. We remain on the field 
till midnight, bringing ofi!" the wounded 



432 COXPEDEEATE ECHOES. 

from between our lines and those of the en- 
emy, and then move back to a new position 
on the left." 

Had I fallen in either one of these battles, 
I would have gone from the delightful study 
of God's most precious word with my dear 
comrades in arms into his immediate and 
blissful presence on high; and it is joyful 
to my soul to-day to contemplate the fact 
that I was thus engaged on the eve of battle, 
albeit I knew not that the deadly strife 
would the same day set in as the sun began 
to lean westward. " Be ye therefore ready 
also : for the Son of man cometh at an hour 
when ye think not." 

Several new positions were taken the last 
days of July and early in August to defeat, 
as far as possible, Sherman's flanking move- 
ments, but each day we had preaching and 
prayer meeting and Bible studies. August 
10-17 the revival fires burned exceedingly 
brightly; large numbers of penitents sought 
religion at our rude altars of prayer, most of 
whom were converted, and Christians ex- 
ulted in the Lord with ever freshening joys. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 433 

Speaking of mj^self, I say in my diary of 
August 16: "My soul is greatly blessed." 
In this series of services we had the minis- 
trations of Revs. Coffey, Cooper, Frazier, 
Davis, S. M. Cherry, Given, and King. 

After Hood evacuated Atlanta and began 
his self-destructive Tennessee campaign, no 
opportunities were afforded for revival meet- 
ings until the few fragments that were left 
of his army were in ]N^orth Carolina, though 
the prayer meetings were held from time to 
time as our situation would allow. In the 
latter part of March, 1865, there was a de- 
cided, though not very general revival meet- 
ing in camp. Quite a number of mourners 
were at the altar, and there were several 
conversions. This is the last revival that 
I noted in my diary, and the last one with 
which I was connected. Then the surren- 
der was virtually at hand. 

Yerily there is such a thing as religion 
among soldiers who go to war in defense of 
such principles as those for which we 
fought I 

I feel inclined to say, though it may be 

28 



434 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

unbecoming in me to speak thus, that patri- 
otism never reached its perfection until the 
armies of the " Old South " were marshaled 
for her defense, and to repel the aggressive 
forces of the determined destroyers of our 
own fair land. If it ever was a Christian 
virtue, it was as it then existed in the bos- 
oms of the loyal men and women of the 
Southern Confederacy, both in and out of 
our armies. But, referring especially to our 
patriot soldiery, the completion of lofty man- 
hood cannot be attained through the channel 
of patriotism alone, but the Christian religion 
must be superadded, and become the chief and 
divine factor in putting manhood at its best 
before the world. In my estimate, no grand- 
er character could be found among the walks 
of men than the genuine Confederate sol- 
dier, fully imbued Avith the spirit of patriot- 
ism, over whose head waved the blood- 
stained banner of Prince Immanuel. 

It is not to be thought for a moment, as 
Sam Watkins woidd have it, that to have 
been a Confederate soldier entitles one to 
the kingdom of heaven, or that the worthy 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 435 

cause for which he fought was capable of 
imparting godliness and religions enjoyment 
to him; bnt it may truthfully, it seems to me, 
be said that the Confederate soldier who, 
having a clear understanding of the merits 
of our cause, went to war in earnest, and 
continued in the service from principle, was 
possessed of those elements of manliness 
which would much facilitate him, by divine 
help, in becoming a Christian of a high or- 
der, and of enjoying his religion in a large 
measure. I was already a Christian when I 
enlisted in tlie army, but I am sure that I 
was much advanced as such while serving in 
the capacity of a Confederate soldier on the 
firing line. To our Lord be all the praise 
for the religious prosperity and enjoyment 
that we had in his blessed service. Amen! 



CHAPTER XX. 



Black Mammies — Memoirs — Southern Womanhood, 

THE estate of my parents, who died when 
I was but a little child, consisted, in 
part, of slave property. My brother, two 
years older than myself, was the only other 
child that they had, and we became the own- 
ers of what property they had. This was di- 
vided between us when my brother reached 
his majority, he taking what fell to him, 
while my share remained in the hands of my 
guardian until I was of age, or nearly so. 
Among the negroes that we inherited were 
two women named Hilly, one of whom was 
called Milly Sims and the other Milly Fox, 
to discriminate them from each other. In 
the division, the former fell to my brother 
and the latter to me. David G. Goodloe 
was my brother's name. 

Upon the death of our mother, some three 
years after father died, we were taken from 
the family home, in Maury County, Tenn., to 
(436) 



CONFEDEliATE ECHOES. 487 

the home of our grandfather, David S. Good- 
loe, in Tuscumbia, Ala. Here we remained 
until we were large enough to begin school 
life, when our guardian took charge of us, 
and his house became our home. While at 
grandpa's, Aunt Milly Sims was our " black 
mammy," acting under the instructions of 
our step-grandmother, who was exceedingly 
kind and attentive to us. 

A suitable room in connection with the 
main building was prepared for us, and a 
bed put in it also for Aunt Milly, who then 
was advanced somewhat in years. Sims, her 
husband, had died, and she never married 
again. She was not a strong woman, but 
sufficiently so to give all necessary care to 
the little orphan boys, whom she loved with 
the tenderness of a sympathizing mother. 
She fully realized the importance and sa- 
credness of her charge, and constantly mag- 
nified the position which she occupied. She 
drew us closer and closer to her from day to 
day, until we came to feel that Aunt Milly 
was well-nigli all in all to us. She always 
acted intelligently in her care of us, and 



438 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

was ever patient toward us. Old negro 
women in the South were called "Aunt." 

Aunt Milly (Sims) was of a very religious 
temperament, and would often talk to broth- 
er and me about religion, and urge us to be 
good children, so that we might go to heav- 
en, where our parents had surely gone, as 
she testified. She was particularly fond of 
telling us what good people our parents 
were, and how fond they were of brother and 
me. She, among other things concerning 
their devotion to us, told of an incident in 
connection with our father's last sickness 
which has lingered in my mind ever since. 
It was this: While Dr. John P. Spindle, the 
family physician, and some other friends were 
sitting up with him, expecting him to pass 
away at any moment, he suddenly turned 
his face toward the wall. Dr. Spindle, ap- 
prehending that it was a death struggle, 
stepped quickly to his bedside and spoke to 
him in regard to his condition. Replying to 
the doctor, he said in a feeble tone: "I do 
not need anything; I was just giving my 
children to the Lord." 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 439 

It was these talks mostly of onr black 
mammy, I have often thought, that created 
in the minds of my brother and me perhaps 
our earliest desires to be religious and long- 
ings to meet our father and mother in the 
inheritance of the saints on high. My broth- 
er, a devout Christian from early life, has 
gone to them, and I am sure that I am on 
the Avay there. He was a Confederate sol- 
dier, was captured at the battle of Helena, 
Ark., and died a prisoner of war at Alton, 
111., January 5, 1864. 

The Aunt Milly of whom I now write was 
our black mammy also during our early in- 
fancy and childhood in Tennessee, giving 
our mother while she lived all necessary re- 
lief in the care of us, especially diu'ing her 
protracted ill health, and had the care of us 
on the way by private conveyance from 
Tennessee to Alabama. So that from birth, 
indeed, until we were ready for school, broth- 
er and I were largely dependent on Aunt 
Milly Sims for comfort of body and enjoy- 
ment. She was never a strong woman, 
though she lived to a good old age, and died 



440 COXFEDERATE ECHOES. 

on my brother's plantation in St. Francis 
County, Ark., in 1859, I think. A good 
while before she died she did but little more 
than look after the children in the negro 
quarters in the absence of their mothers 
while emploj^ed in the field or elsewhere. 
My impression is that she was born in North 
Carolina, and that she was about eighty 
years old when she died. She never had 
but one child, a girl, whom she reared to re- 
spectable womanhood. 

Aunt Milly Fox, the black mammy of the 
older children of my wife and me, was born, 
as nearly as I could get her age, in 1804, in 
Franklin County, Ala.; and died in David- 
son County, Tenn., in 1875. I am glad to 
be able to present her picture, which I had 
taken in the spring of 1866 in Nashville, and 
which is an excellent likeness of her. 

When my guardian put into my possession 
my property in December, 1853, I went with 
it at once to St. Francis County, Ark., 
where I had a short while before bargained 
for a farm, although I was not twenty-one 
years old until the 23d of the following 





AUNT MILLY FOX. 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 441 

June. There I lived in '' single blessed- 
ness" until I married, in Alabama, Novem- 
ber 29, 1855. Of the negroes then owned by 
me, Aunt Milly Fox was the matriarch. 
And I may as well also say that she was my 
black mammy then, of whom I was very 
proud. She did my cooking, as well as the 
cooking for the field hands, kept my resi- 
dence in perfect order, and gave all due at- 
tention to my wearing apparel. She was in 
every way capable of meeting these de- 
mands; but as a cook, especially, she could 
not be excelled. I turned the keys over to 
her, and let her have her own way about the 
management of household and kitchen af- 
fairs, and never for a moment did she show a 
presumptuous or wasteful disposition. And 
she was strictly honest at all times and in 
all things, and ever humble and obedient. 
Other duties than those relating to the house 
and kitchen devolved on her about the prem- 
ises, and she performed them always prompt- 
ly and cheerfully. There was not a "lazy 
bone " in her, and I never saw her in a bad 
humor. The negro houses were in the back 



tl42 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

yard, and she saw to it that they were kept 
in good order and the children properly gov- 
erned. I love to think of the piles of black- 
beny pies she used to make for me in black- 
berry time, knowing, as she did, that I was 
very fond of them. During the season the 
safe was never empty of them. I was from 
liome a good deal first and last, and nothing 
ever went wrong in my absence in the af- 
fairs committed to her keeping and over- 
sight. She was then living with her second 
husband, a sort of a carpenter, named Harry ; 
but she was always designated as Milly Fox, 
after her first husband. Harry died in 1858. 

During my minorit}^ she lived sometimes 
on Uncle Robert Goodloe's plantation and 
sometimes on Uncle Calvin's, and her duties 
had reference mainly to cooking and seeing 
that the negro quarters and children were 
kept in good order. iSTo complaint was ever 
made of her b}^ either of these uncles, and 
they both had large plantations and many 
negroes. 

She had twelve children that she reared, 
and had one or two, perhaps, that died in in- 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 443 

fancy. While on Uncle Calvin's place, at 
one time she gave birth to triplets (two boys 
and a girl), all healthy children, which she 
reared. Uncle Calvin had a cradle made 
large enough to hold all three of them at a 
time, and detailed a nurse and cow to help 
rear them. Their names, if you wish to 
know, were Stephen, Sawney, and Harriet. 
Harry was their father. 

Aunt Milly's piety was of the quiet, or- 
derly kind, with but little demonstration; 
and wherever she was she exerted a whole- 
some influence upon the other negroes, re- 
straining them from disturbances among 
themselves and any show of insubordination 
to those who had the rule over them. She 
encouraged them also not to be eye-servants, 
but to do their work well, and from jDrinci- 
ple. In these respects she and her first hus- 
band were well adapted to each other, but 
Harry's piety was considerably hypocritical 
and cranky. He belonged to Uncle Calvin 
when he and Aunt Milly were married, and 
I bought him when I got my property, to 
keep him and his wife together, a rule which 



444 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

prevailed throughout the South in those 
dajSf Yankee meddlers to the contrary not- 
withstanding. A part of Harry's religion, 
and a very troublesoome part to me, consist- 
ed in not eating hog meat, which was the 
only kind of meat that I could keep on hand 
at all times for the negroes. 

One day I had him in my room fixing a 
door to the staircase, and set to work to per- 
suade him out of his objection to eating hog- 
meat. I asked him, to begin with, what his 
reasons were for not eating it. His prompt 
reply, which he seemed glad to make, was 
that the devil was in the hogs, which would 
put the devil in him if he ate their meat. 

"Where did you get that from? " I asked. 

'' Out of the Bible," he answered bravely, 
as though he had already turned me down. 

" Why, Harry, those hogs that the Bible 
tells about the devil getting into were 
drowned;" and I picked up the Bible and 
read him the account which Matthew gives 
of the incident, closing with these words: 
"And when they were come out, they went 
into the herd of swine; and, behold, the 



CON^FEDERATE ECHOES. 445 

whole herd of swine ran violently down a 
steep place into the sea, and perished in the 
Avaters." 

This did not jostle Harry's theory in the 
least, and he came back at me thiisly : '^ But 
you didn't put de 'terpretation to dat scrip- 
tur'; you jest put de 'terpretation dar, and 
you'll see how it is, fur a fack." 

" What do you mean, Harry, by the ' 'ter- 
pretation?'" Tasked. 

" "Why, de 'terpretation is, dem hogs swum 
across de sea to de tother bank, and dey is 
de same stock of hogs we got now, what de 
devil is in." 

Harry was invincible in argumentation on 
his religious predilections, as some dogma- 
tists nowadays are. Sometime after that I 
caught him stealing a chicken, and from 
that on issued hog rations to him, which he 
ate with a decided relish. 

When I married and took my wife to 
Arkansas, together with the slave and other 
property that she inherited from her father's 
estate, the responsibilities of Aunt Milly's 
position became very much enlarged, but 



446 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. ' 

she was fully equal to them. She greeted 
my wife with a glad welcome, and had ev- 
erything in the house and yard in perfect 
order for her reception. My wife had al- 
ready known her in Alabama, and was well 
pleased to have her valuable help in our 
home aftaii's of various kinds. They had 
great fondness for each other as long as 
Aunt Milly lived. 

When our first child was born, January 
23, 1857, Aunt Milly Fox was regularly in- 
stalled, so to speak, as the black mammy of 
our children. The babe at his birth was 
placed in her hands by the attending physi- 
cian, to be cared for as is customary with a 
newborn child. She had also much to do in 
the care of the mother for the time being. 
It was perfectly beautiful to the eyes of my 
wife and me to see with what dexterity she 
handled and fondled our baby boy from da}^ 
to day, as she attended to his various wants, 
and the deepening sympathy and love that 
she manifested for him. Her attention to 
my wife also was complete and intelligent. 
After a while the little fellow must begin to 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 447 

live on other diet in connection with his 
mother's milk, and the feeding process sets 
in, inaugurated and carried forward by the 
black mammy, to the detestation of the 
toothless eater at first, but afterwards to his 
delight. She begins by telling him what 
she is going to do, and coaxes him to eat 
like the little man that he is, just as though 
he understood all that she said; then the 
feeding process sets in. And what a suck- 
ing and spitting and wriggling do we be- 
hold! Yery likely she will masticate the 
bread a little herself, to start with, and push 
it into his mouth on the end of her finger; 
but getting him to swallow it is a little tedi- 
ous. Having started him that way, the 
bread moistened with milk will be given to 
him little by little in a spoon until he takes 
to it kindly and smacks his mouth when the 
spoon touches his lips. This is the first 
stage, which soon develops into the easy-go- 
ing eating habit. Sickness may be expect- 
ed sooner or later, and then the tender-heart- 
ed and sympathetic black mammy becomes 
the chief dependence as nurse, to tlie incal- 



448 co:n"federate echoes. 

ciilable relief and comfort of the distressed 
mother. And so it goes on and on as new 
arrivals come to the family. These bring 
the black mammy's services more and more 
in demand, and draw her closer and closer 
to the heart of the household. The love for 
her, indeed, is very strong. 

In our family Aunt Milly Fox helped to 
start off our first five children, except that 
one was born when she was elsewhere. That 
reached to a year and a half after the war, 
when I sold our Millbrook home and went 
the second time to Arkansas. Her age and 
condition of health did not justify her in go- 
ing with us, and a perfectly satisfactory ar- 
rangement was made for her to stay at the 
home of my wife's sister near IS'ashville. 

It may be as well to say, to avoid miscon- 
ception on the part of any one, that the 
black mammies were in no sense the succes- 
sors of Shiphrah and Puah, made mention of 
in the first chapter of Exodus, fifteenth verse. 
" Black mammy " was but a title of honor, 
which came easily and naturally to those 
worthy, high-toned elderly negro women 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 449 

who helped so carefully and so elficiently in 
the care of the little white children of the 
families where they belonged. 

As noted elsewhere in this volume, Aunt 
Milly Fox and JS^athan and Keziah were 
with my wife and children at Millbrook dur- 
ing the war, and were their main human sup- 
port and protection while I was in the army. 
All were faithful to my loved ones, and will 
ever be held in fond remembrance by us; but 
Aunt Milly, with her strong character, was 
the head and front of the worthy trio. Iler 
life was so bound up with that of my wife 
and our little ones that she would have ex- 
posed herself to any danger, I believe, that 
might have threatened her, for their security 
from harm. A debt of gratitude we owe her 
and her son (Nathan) and her daughter-in- 
law (Keziah), which it is not possible for us 
to pay. 

And now a final word in regard to South- 
ern mothers and black mammies. It is not 
to be supposed for one moment that the lat- 
ter were authorized by their owners to take 

in hand the government of the children of 

29 



450 CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 

the household or their oversight in a strictly 
authoritative way, as some writers have told, 
thus taking the children in almost every im- 
portant sense from under the oversight of 
their mothers. No such prerogatives were 
delegated to them. They had the care very 
much of the little children in a motherly 
sense, and were at liberty to correct them, 
by scolding after a sort, if they did not be- 
have themselves properly, when they knew 
better, in the absence of their mothers; but 
beyond that they must not go, except to re- 
port the children to their mothers for cor- 
rection. The black mammy was in the con- 
fidence of the mother, and an exceedingly 
valuable help to her in taking care of the 
little children; but it was the mother who 
had the management both of them and their 
black mammy. JNTo Southern mother ever 
turned the government of her children over 
to a negro woman, however correct and care- 
ful she might be. Southern mothers did not 
transfer their obligations to their children to 
any one. 

And what grand women those Southern 



CONFEDERATE ECHOES. 451 

mothers were! It is sjieaking modestly to 
say that no age of the world has ever pro- 
duced a more perfect specimen of woman- 
hood than the typical Southern mother of 
ante-bellum and Confederate days. And 
above all things else that made her great 
was the splendid care and management that 
she exercised over her children, with whom 
she was always in the closest maternal touch 
possible. And how proud the children were 
of their mothers as they grew old enough to 
understand and appreciate them! They were 
women of the highest order and management 
in the business affairs of their homes, over 
which they presided with the utmost ease 
and dignity; but they never were possessed 
of that mannishness which so many Korth- 
ern women had, and which is threatening 
now many women of the so-called " ^ew 
South." The sphere of woman they fully 
understood, and filled up the measure of 
their obligations within that sphere. South- 
ern mothers of the " Old South " were the 
chief factors in shaping society in the best 
forms that the world ever knew. Thev had 



452 COXFEDEEATE ECHOES. 

only lofty ideals of principle, refinement, and 
piety, and that invincible determination in 
the right that made failure with them in the 
things that they undertook an impossibility; 
and they undertook only right things. 

And whence came, let me here ask, those 
matchless heroes in gray w^ho fought so long- 
and so bravely against Lincoln's numberless 
invading soldiery? Southern mothers gave 
them to the Confederacy, having imbued 
them from birth with the spirit of patriotism 
and courageous manhood. Whence those 
devoted and tireless daughters of the South, 
who cheered on their brothers to the conflict 
for freedom, and did what they could in 
their places to make our cause a success? 
Southei-n mothers gave them to us. Who 
gave our Southland the finest statesmen and 
divines and citizenship to be found any- 
where? Southern mothers. All honor to 
the magnificent motherhood of the blessed 
Old South! 



NOV 22 m7 



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